After a few days, Xie Ji was having a good time. Many officials came to the door to wish him a happy New Year.

But Xie Ji knew that this congratulation was incidental and related to the matter of adding punctuation to the classics. This matter was of great importance.

They had no choice but to pay attention, and Xie Ji told them one by one that this was indeed the case, and asked some literati to inform the officials who came to learn about the function of this punctuation mark. This strange punctuation aroused their curiosity, and they had some objections and some approvals.

The punctuation this time is still acceptable. After all, if it is really revised, it will also do a good thing for future generations.

A few days later, at court, the matter of punctuation was discussed.

"Your Majesty, although this punctuation mark can make the article more intuitive, it is not beautiful. Moreover, the meaning will be obvious after reading it a hundred times. Different people have different views on this theoretical article. If it is marked with punctuation, wouldn't it be

It’s superfluous and makes scholars lose their ability to understand classics. It does more harm than good!”

Naturally, many people objected to this punctuation mark, and the reasons for their objections were simply based on these points.

There are no punctuation marks originally, but they all know how to pronounce it. If it were marked with punctuation marks, it would be disrespectful to the sages and the article.

Moreover, if a symbol is marked, what if the mark is wrong? Wouldn’t it be a mistake? Who dares to take on this important task?

Also, this symbol is very unsightly, so they cannot accept it.

However, this controversy is nothing to Xie Ji, who directly refutes every point in depth.

Then the emperor saw that it was almost done and issued an edict directly, asking Wang Cen and others to take on the important task of revising the classics.

They never expected that the result would be like this.

"Your Majesty, this..." Xiaoyu didn't know whether to laugh or cry when the emperor asked him to take the lead in revising the Four Books.

Revising the Four Books was indeed an honor given to him, and it was also a recognition of him. Logically speaking, he should happily accept the edict, but he knew in his heart that it was Xie Ji's fault.

By asking them to revise it, Xie Ji would be able to become lawless in the court, and the entire court would become his one-spoken institution. This was a bit hard for him to accept.

Which is better, power or reputation?

"The six ministers are all role models for the world. The revision of classics is a major event for the country. The Taifu is the pillar of the country. They are all pillars. I will leave the revision to you."

The emperor said on the throne that it would be a good feeling to let them revise the classics. At least they would not create chaos in front of him.

However, in order to think that he was targeting those few people, he asked the six ministers to come together, so as to avoid others saying that he favored one over the other.

"I accept my order."

The officials who were called said.

"Your Majesty, the Prime Minister is very knowledgeable and talented. Why don't you let the Prime Minister join in? I will voluntarily give up my position as the revised chief officer." Wang Cen suggested to the emperor.

"The Prime Minister is responsible for revising the "Daxia Code". The task is so important that we can't get away from it. If you have time, please assist the Prime Minister in revising the law."

The emperor continued to announce this important news to everyone.

What?

Amend the law?

Why don't they know when this will happen?

Why didn't they know about this beforehand?

"I will strictly follow His Majesty's wishes and re-revise appropriate laws in accordance with the laws of things to benefit the people." After hearing these words, Xie Ji immediately agreed and affirmed.

When everyone saw this scene, how could they not understand that this matter was caused by Xie Ji behind the scenes. Xie Ji deliberately made punctuation marks in order to distract everyone.

They knew it was poison, but they still had to jump in.

I would like to ask, is it important to mark the punctuation points of the sages’ articles? It is important, and it is related to the changes in the literary world in the future.

Therefore, Xie Ji threw out this temptation to let the literati indulge in revising the classics, and he could start his great work.

Marking the classics with punctuation marks cannot be completed in a day or two. It will take at least seven or eight years, and it requires everyone's efforts.

And revising the law is not a simple matter. It can take as little as three to five years, or as long as twenty or thirty years. It all takes time.

You need to read the laws one by one, and you must know that changing even one sentence will have a great impact.

Therefore, even the simplest item needs to be considered for a long time. It is naturally impossible for one person to complete it. It requires many people to work together and wait until there is no problem at all before it can be issued.

Therefore, this is also a time-consuming job. Naturally, it is not just revising the law every day without doing anything.

"Your Majesty, the "Daxia Code" involves all aspects, and it affects the whole body. It cannot be modified rashly."

Although they were caught off guard this time, they still calmed down and revised the law. This was a big deal. If something went wrong, it would not be as simple as changing back.

This can be very damaging to your morale.

If Xie Ji arbitrarily changes it, who will be responsible for the consequences? What's more, the officials are already very familiar with the current "Daxia Code". If it is changed, won't they have to waste time studying it?

This time he really wasn't targeting Xie Ji, but was really starting from reality.

"The "Daxia Code" states that the crime of corruption is punishable by death. If we act in accordance with the "Daxia Code", I think that not more than five of you here will survive."

Xie Ji said with a smile that this is indeed the case. At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the legislation was still very strict. Dirty and dirty things like corruption were severely punished once discovered, and they did not dare to let it go.

Therefore, the politics at the beginning were relatively clear. However, in the later period, due to the increase in the number of corrupt people, corruption became common, and money and wealth were valued much more than at the beginning of the founding of the country.

Corruption and bribery are commonplace, and no one takes this kind of thing too seriously anymore. The society is also very tolerant of corruption. It is no longer strange.

And this law that severely punishes corruption has been ignored, and no one wants to mention it. From the officials of the Manchu Dynasty to the common people, as long as there is corruption, no one wants to let it go.

Therefore, when Xie Ji mentioned this matter at this time, no one in the entire court dared to refute it, because no one dared to refute it unless he was a truly upright and honest official.

"Your Majesty, there is not a single honest official among the ministers in the entire dynasty. If any of you dare to admit that he has never been greedy for anything since he became an official, I will give him the position of prime minister."

Xie Ji smiled sarcastically, leaving people speechless.

Corruption and bribery have become a commonplace thing. The current social atmosphere is like this. People who are extremely wealthy are extremely flattering, and people who are penniless are looked down upon. This kind of atmosphere makes people who enter the official career have only one goal.

Just make money.

"Your Majesty, I know a person who has never been corrupt." Someone heard Xie Ji's words and stood up and said.

He originally disliked that person, but compared to Xie Ji, he was a bit cute.

Xie Ji was a little surprised, so he asked: "Who is it?"

"It's Wei Guangwei who was demoted to Yongzhou by the Prime Minister last time."

The man said with a smile, thinking in his heart, Xie Ji, you brought this on yourself. Originally, Wei Guangwei was not very pleasing to him, and you were not greedy for anything. When he was demoted to Yongzhou, he was still gloating about his misfortune.

Although the courtiers defended him, they were only for show.

Now, didn't Xie Ji say that he couldn't find a man of integrity in the court who would not take corruption or bribery? He just said, if you have the guts, you should abdicate and give him the position of prime minister.

I bet Xie Ji that you don't dare. Even if you give in verbally, His Majesty will not do it. This sentence is just for words.

Sure enough, Xie Ji didn't look very good, and neither did His Majesty.

"Your Majesty, if he is really not corrupt, I would be willing to abdicate in favor of someone worthy of him."

Xie Ji thought for a while and then said to the emperor, as gently as usual.

"This person's blood has been spilled in the main hall, and he has lost etiquette in front of the palace. Even if this person is not involved in corruption or bribery, he has bad conduct and cannot hold a high position." After hearing this, the emperor said.

This person must be looking for trouble, and the emperor will naturally not respond.

"Besides this person, how many other people can you name?" The emperor asked the person. Don't mention Wei Guangwei to me. He was not in a good mood when he mentioned him. This person dared to splatter blood in the main hall.

The man hesitated, but he couldn't find many people. At least, except for Wei Guangwei, he knew that all the others were corrupt.

The social atmosphere is like this. Even if you don't want to be corrupt and want to do something big, at first you really want to benefit the people and provide guidance for the country. But once you enter the officialdom, you can't help yourself.

When you are in it, you are often unable to break away.

"In this case, do you all have to be killed according to the "Daxia Law"?"

The emperor thought this was a good feeling and dared to object. If anyone dared to oppose the reform of the law, he would first behead him in public in accordance with the law.

Everyone looked at each other, not daring to say anything, and no one dared to hold any objections. They could only look at Xie Ji, feeling particularly unhappy.

Seeing this scene, Xie Ji said to the emperor: "Thank you, Your Majesty."

When everyone saw Xie Ji's posture, they wanted to skin him alive. This damn Xie Ji dared to do this.

"Your Majesty, when it comes to corruption and bribery, I have some opinions. If we want to change this trend, we have to start from the root cause. Nowadays, everyone puts money first and is ashamed of poverty. The atmosphere of corruption extends from temples to the common people.

It has become popular.”

"In terms of changing the atmosphere, I suggest that we start with changing the concept. Those who are corrupt should be condemned as they should be, and those who stick to the bottom line and are honest and upright should be praised. In this way, over time, the atmosphere can be improved."

Xie Ji continued to use the topic, but Xie Ji's words made everyone's jaws drop. What did they hear? They heard that Xie Ji wanted to change the culture of corruption. Isn't it you, Xie Ji, who pushed him to the top?

In the past, official corruption was hidden and did not dare to be discovered by people. Once you come here, corruption and bribery will become an honest matter.

Now the leader of corruption actually advocates honesty and integrity. How can this not be shocking?
Chapter completed!