Shen Qi's footsteps paused slightly, and a burst of white light flashed, and he had already stepped into the fourth layer of the Tianxing Tower. As for the third layer of the Tianxing Tower, it had disappeared after the jade was so engaged, and the voice in the Tianxing Tower said that it would not be investigated, and in this way, Shen Qi strangely crossed the first layer of the test.

At this moment, a kingdom unfolded before his eyes, which coincided with famine, was full of victims, and countless bones died of starvation in the streets. Shen Qi walked along the streets, and the bleak and sad scenes he saw shocked his heart!

Shen Qi's heart was full of sorrow, he walked numbly, a baby's scream attracted his attention, he tried to touch the baby's face, but he found that he couldn't. Shen Qi watched his hand pass directly over the baby's body, he knew that he couldn't change anything, he was just a witness to a scroll of pictures, that's all.

Before he knew it, night had fallen, and at this time, in front of a brightly lit house, the sound of two people talking came far away, Shen Qi approached, and at this time two figures appeared in his eyes.

A slightly chubby figure kept pacing back and forth, although he was middle-aged, his expression still revealed a high-ranking temperament. I don't know what I heard, but the tall other man hurriedly waved his hand: How can you be juxtaposed with the great adult, the great traitor and the great good? Alas, are you praising me or hurting me?

The chubby figure was exactly what he was talking about, and I saw him shaking his head: "Okay, okay, you are loyal to me, you are honest, I am greedy, you are evil, well, okay, the world's reputation is taken up by you, and the world's notoriety is taken up by me." How can you and I not have a drink?"

"Okay, have a drink. The two poured wine over each other, and the chubby middle-aged man smiled at the tall scholar as he tapped his right index finger rhythmically on the table.

The scholar-looking person was obviously younger, and I saw that his expression was a little serious, "And my lord, let's talk about something serious." ”

"Mr. Ji, please speak. He poured himself another glass of wine, and with a look of truth on his face, the middle-aged man seemed to have guessed the young man's intentions.

"These corrupt officials in Yancheng have replaced the grain eaten by people with bran and forage for livestock. Do you know about this matter?"

The corners of the middle-aged man's mouth were a little hooked, and his words said in a tepid rhythm: "This and so-and-so are naturally known." ”

The young man who looked like a scholar was a little excited, and slapped the table hard, "Don't you feel ashamed of the adults?"

"No, I'm glad I did. A very ridiculous word came out of the middle-aged man's mouth, and this Mr. Ji's heart had sunk to the bottom at this moment.

"Why? I only know that Lord He is a big corrupt official, how can he be so mediocre in the face of such a big matter?" This Mr. Ji pointed out the window, he seemed to see the scene of corpses all over the field, at this time his face was a little hideous, and his expression was also a little angry.

Seeing that the Lord Nahe didn't care at all, he waved his hand and motioned for Mr. Ji to sit down first, "Mr. Ji, you don't know anything." This pound of rations can be exchanged for three pounds of bran. This is equivalent to the fact that the food that could have saved one person can now save three people! Is this also mediocre? If you don't have enough food, what is it to starve the victims to death?"

Mr. Ji's expression slowed slightly, his eyes looked out the window, his tone was weak, and even a little pity. "And my lord, but the bran is for the animals, not for the people!"

He didn't reply immediately, and his gaze wandered out of the window. Lord He also seemed to have some heartache, and his next words were full of helplessness, "But, Mr. Ji, should the victims of the disaster still be counted as people?"

"What did you say?" Mr. Ji slammed the wooden table, and a crack appeared, and he was already furious.

And adults, "Don't keep your eyes so wide. Do you know that people who are dying of starvation are no longer people, they are animals, as long as they live, what kind of bran is there, that is a good thing. Grass roots, tree bark, and dirt can all be eaten. ”

Mr. Ji's face was sarcastic, "It's really shocking that these words came from the mouth of a dignified and adult." ”

He got up and brushed his sleeves, he didn't seem to see the sneer of the person in front of him, "Of course you are shocked, you are a scholar, you will only be in the study, holding a sage book and scolding the courtier." ”

"When the court is unfair, you should criticize yourself!" Mr. Ji was a little excited, and after his remarks today, he was already blushing and thick-necked.

"Hey, why are you so angry. Come on, drink. ”

"Mr. Ji, have you ever seen this person who eats Guanyin soil and dies?"

Mr. Ji asked, "What is Guanyin soil?"

"You see, you don't know. Mr. Ji was a little puzzled when he heard this, as if he heard the disdain of the person in front of him, he hurriedly poured wine, and it has always been his mark to be inquisitive. "Let me ask you again, have you ever seen the bark of all the trees in this thousand plains being gnawed away?"

"Ah," Mr. Ji's surprised voice startled. At this time, Shen Qi outside the window also approached involuntarily, he had seen the famine with his own eyes, and now he was obviously touched by the remarks between the two.

I only heard a voice continuing to come from outside the house, "Yi Zi and eat, of course you have heard of it, it is just four words in the history books." I've seen it with my own eyes. This is for children to eat, it is just a push of meat in the pot. Hearing this, the exclamations of Mr. Ji and Shen Qi sounded almost at the same time.

Mr. Ji's tone was choked, "You-"

He continued to say to himself, "You think I'm inhumane, don't you? You think I only know how to be greedy for money, don't you? I have been to the disaster area myself, and when I see it there, my heart is cold. Only then did I realize that no matter how much food was sent by the imperial court for disaster relief, it would never be enough. If I don't try to be flexible, you'll see more bones than people in the disaster area!"

Although Mr. Ji was a little touched by what he said, he still couldn't believe it, "This, the food for disaster relief is not enough, can you ask the court for another allocation?"

A slight snort, "Imperial court, do you know how much silver is left in the treasury? You don't know, you don't know at all." Levy the big and small Jinchuan, level the Gel Department, and now the treasury is only an empty shell, do you know?"

Mr. Ji was not to be outdone: "But the imperial court still sent the disaster relief grain, I looked at their account books, so all the disaster relief grain money went into this Xue boss's bank." ”

waved to the adult, disapproving, "You can't say that." Boss Xue is a person with great powers, one penny goes in, and two pennies come out, so I have enough money to help the victims. ”

Mr. Ji felt that his outlook on life was about to be subverted, "I have read their account books, and officials, large and small, are all embezzling the food money for this disaster relief." What do you say about this, my lord?"

"Save your life first and save the officials, the officials can't live, what else can you save the people. And the adult's chubby figure is not very flexible, he slapped the table.

Mr. Ji was not afraid at all, "It's ridiculous. ”

"It's a fact. Thousands upon thousands of disaster victims, who will give them relief food, will you send it, or will I send it? It is not up to those officials, big and small, to feed them, and they will be willing to give me their lives. The words of the adults were obviously a little harsh in the ears of this Mr. Ji.

I saw Mr. Ji sneering, "It's really an ancient fallacy, and there is a big reason for corruption and bribery." ”

"This is a great truth in exchange for decades of official eunuch career, and this is a golden truth in exchange for thousands of bloody facts, Mr. Ji, why don't you understand him. He had a bitter posture with the adults, and there was some hatred in his eyes that iron was not steel.

Mr. Ji didn't know what to say, so he just listened to his words, "Eat the king, share the worries for the king, bit by bit, all of them are the people's fat and people's ointment." And my lord, how can you bear to withhold a grain of grain from the mouth of this hungry man?" he slammed the table again.

I saw him swinging his hands in front of him, "Here we go again, okay...... Drink...... Calm down and drink. Mr. Ji, do you know how to write the official character? The upper and lower mouths must first feed the upper mouth, and then feed the lower mouth. He pointed his finger upwards and shook his head with a very comfortable look.

Mr. Ji continued: "The Song Dynasty has Bao Gong, the Ming Dynasty has Hai Rui, the Kangxi Dynasty has Shi Gong, and the Qing officials have been replaced, and the adults are ashamed. ”

I only heard the adult reply: "Yes, yes, yes...... The Qing official is indeed admirable, but the Qing official is also terrifying. ”

"Then what about Lord He, you are disrespectful and fearless, so you are lawless. ”

And the adults are not annoyed, "Then let me ask you, how many clean officials and how many corrupt officials have been there throughout the ages?"

"Qing officials are like a rarity, and corrupt officials are like the sand of the Yellow River. Mr. Ji crossed his hands on his hips, and the implication was that he was the same.

"Yes, then I don't rely on them, who do I rely on?Ah, I, the Minister of Military Aircraft, if I don't have them to support me, it's a fart, am I easy?" and the eyes of the adults were a little tired, and it seemed that there were thousands of difficulties to be resisted by themselves.

Shen Qi didn't continue to listen, he shook his head, looked ahead, and walked slowly.

"What kind of test is this scene?" He was a little confused, Shen Qi was very sympathetic to the victims in the famine year, but it sounded very reasonable to him from what the adults said.

At this time, an ethereal voice came out in Shen Qi's heart: The court must be finished, but it can't be finished in this matter, it can't be finished in my hands, and it can't be finished in this dynasty. Therefore, he chose to accept the exorbitant administrative costs, and successfully avoided the worst outcome of a specific disaster by multiplying capital and transferring relief to corrupt officials. As far as this disaster is concerned, it is true that Lord He has done his best. The problem is that every compromise increases the administrative cost of the next one, and when the administrative cost finally reaches a high level, the world becomes an empire that will be destroyed.

And Mr. Ji's attitude is: The empire is not over yet. But he couldn't find any solution to the problem—at least not in his position, so his attitude seemed too big and unwarranted. It must be admitted, however, that he at least sees the root of the problem: if he accepts the rise in administrative costs unconditionally, sooner or later he will have to finish the day. This result was unacceptable to him, so he had to use the teachings of the sages to prove that working with the adults as a "pastemaker" would be counterproductive.

Therefore, if you look at it from this point of view, in fact, the dialogue between the two is not so much about the philosophy of officialdom as it is about the sadness of an important minister-

At this time, a golden light appeared, and an ancient voice came out, "Interlocutor, which of the two do you think is right and who is wrong?"