The princess was ordained by Heaven.

Chapter 104 The Princess Will Always Feel Sorry for Him

Qin Duzhi was so moved that he was almost in tears.

He knew that as long as he worked hard, the princess would always take pity on him.

The other ministers were incredibly jealous, looking down on him with disdain.

Qin Duzhi stood tall, proudly welcoming the various gazes he received, like a rooster.

Envious? Jealous? You can't learn how to get care by trading his hair!

Just then, Zheng Xun stepped forward.

All eyes were on her.

"The Great Yong Dynasty is now thriving, and the contributions of all of you gentlemen are indispensable. Now that we have such talented people, in order to repay the court officials, I believe that their salaries should be increased."

She spoke in a short, understated sentence, but the meaning behind it brought smiles to everyone's faces.

The Great Yong Dynasty was so poor that for a long time they paid to attend court and relied entirely on a little bit of illicit income to make a living. Anyone with a bit of integrity would have starved to death.

Several minor officials in the Hanlin Academy, for example, suffered the loss of their wives and children because they could not support their families.

The Great Yong Dynasty owes them a great debt.

I was already pleasantly surprised to be able to pay the back salary I owed a while ago, but I didn't expect an even bigger surprise to follow.

At this point, who cared about how nasty Zheng Xun had just insulted them?

They could even cling to Zheng Xun's leg and call her "mother"!

What's wrong with a mother scolding her child a few times? Is there a problem? Isn't she just looking out for them?

In the bustling hall, Zheng Xun's composure stood out.

If you want a horse to run, make sure it's well-fed; this principle remains unchanged throughout history.

The ministers should be rewarded for their efforts; a pay raise is, in fact, inevitable.

The emperor's face showed little emotion, but in reality, he was heartbroken.

The court is poor! It's really poor!

How about letting the second son sit on the throne for a few days? Once the national treasury is full, he can take the throne back?

I was tempted, but it was clearly not going to work.

He really wanted to reject Zheng Xun's proposal, but seeing the joy on the faces of the court officials, he found it hard to say no.

I can't bear it...

He now resembles an old father whose back is bent under the weight of life, with a house full of children crying out for food, all waiting for him to feed them something good.

Yuan Jia has given him a really tough problem!

The Minister of Personnel, noticing the emperor's predicament, nudged the Fifth Prince.

Fifth Prince: ...

He moved a few steps away, pretending not to have received his hint.

The Minister of Personnel quickly stepped forward: "Fifth Prince, the national treasury is empty. Princess Yuanjia's proposal to raise salaries is putting His Majesty in a difficult position! If you speak up for His Majesty at this time, His Majesty will definitely think more highly of you."

The Fifth Prince chuckled and cursed him inwardly as an old fox.

Just kidding, he's not stupid.

To refute Yuan Jia's proposal at this time would offend the entire court.

However, it's still worth a try.

He coughed lightly, drawing the emperor's attention, and then stepped forward.

He first praised the contributions of all the ministers, affirming the inevitability of the salary increase, and then changed the subject: "The salary should indeed be increased, but it cannot be increased arbitrarily. It would be better to keep the basic salary unchanged, and on top of that, divide the officials into several levels according to their political achievements and performance. The better the performance, the more salary the officials will receive. In this way, those officials who shirk their duties and cheat will be eliminated, and the capable will receive the rewards they deserve."

Zheng Xun glanced at the Fifth Prince thoughtfully.

That's pretty good!

He thought the Fifth Prince was a complete idiot, but he didn't expect him to have some brains.

Isn't he referring to the modern system of basic salary plus performance-based bonuses?

Keep in mind that the Fifth Prince was only fifteen years old and had never worked before in the feudal dynasty. For him to think of this was truly a gift.

Unfortunately, while this system is effective, it's not very suitable for the imperial court.

Even in modern times, it is difficult to quantify performance-based work, let alone in ancient times when information did not circulate and the tasks of each official were extremely complicated, making it impossible to determine a standard.

The evaluation of officials today still has huge loopholes and deficiencies, not to mention that in ancient times, supervision was a major problem.

So, this thing can be used, but not all of it.

However, she doesn't need to remind them of these things; the officials of our Great Yong are all professionals!

Listening to the discussions around him, Zheng Xun nodded in satisfaction, then turned his gaze to the Fifth Prince.

Since it still has a brain, it must be usable. Whether it's a sickle or a curved sword, any weapon that can kill the enemy is a good weapon.

As for the Fifth Prince, he's not a good person...

That's great! We won't feel bad about squeezing every last drop of juice out of them!

She wasn't afraid that the knife would disobey her; as long as it was in her hand, it would do exactly what she wanted.

The Fifth Prince, who was talking eloquently, suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, as if he were being watched by some terrifying monster.

He touched the back of his neck; it was probably because the weather was getting cooler, so he should wear more layers from now on.

This matter couldn't be resolved in a day or two. Zheng Xun calmly observed the vibrant court and stopped grumbling to himself.

Zheng Jiao seemed to be deep in thought, then suddenly asked, "Yuan Jia, has something happened recently? I feel like you're not acting right today."

She rarely mentioned the words "destroy a country" anymore, but I don't know what triggered her, because she suddenly started talking about it endlessly again today.

Zheng Xun was momentarily confused: "What? Nothing's wrong!"

The Crown Prince suddenly asked, "What did my third brother say to you yesterday?"

The Third Prince, who was innocently mentioned: ?

"He didn't say anything..."

Zheng Xun pursed his lips.

[You've been found out...]

That's right, now that I'm already in the game and controlled by the pieces, I have no choice but to give it my all.

Saving the country is not something that can be accomplished overnight. Although things seem to be moving in a positive direction now, I fear that the officials in the court may become complacent.

[How about I create some crisis? Father's birthday is in two months, and the Brown Kingdom will send envoys. I guess a few people need to die to raise everyone's vigilance. I'm thinking, who should I kill...?]

The discussions in Fengqin Hall abruptly ceased, leaving only the Fifth Prince, whose true thoughts were unheard, still spouting nonsense.

But everyone fell silent. He was confused and his voice gradually grew softer and softer until it disappeared completely.

Upon closer inspection, he saw that most of the court officials' faces displayed a mixture of fear and shock.

We were arguing fiercely just a moment ago, but now we suddenly have a shared secret.

Waaaaah, I'm being isolated, it's so sad.

No one else has time to care about his little mood right now.

They were terrified.

What did the princess just say?

Was the princess speaking human language just now?

What do you mean by needing several deaths to raise alarm? They're alarmed! No one is more alarmed than them.

But Zheng Xun's gaze began to sweep over everyone one by one.

Even the emperor was glanced at. He was startled and quickly straightened his expression, seemingly deep in thought, but in reality, he was quite flustered.

The courtiers, who were being stared at, did not want to attract her attention, so they could only pretend to be very busy, but it was unclear what they were busy with.