There is more rainy in the south of the Yangtze River when winter begins.

For two consecutive days, the drizzle fell quietly, like silver threads spit out by countless silkworms.

The "Integrity Supervision Office" in the office area of ​​the Grand Governor's Office is filled with a faint fragrance of tea.

The honeycomb coal in the stove is burning vigorously, constantly dispelling the cold moisture.

The fragrance of hot tea, the taste of tea and reading are particularly comfortable and leisurely in this wet and cold weather.

Unfortunately, since Shangguan Yi came to this room, there were too many things and he didn't even have time to go back home, so he naturally didn't have time to read leisurely in such an environment.

However, Shangguan Yi suddenly fell in love with this smell because the tea can refresh him.

Of course, although I have been busy these days, Shangguan Yi enjoys it.

After all, he was a down-and-out scholar who had no place to settle down before.

Now at least there is no need to work hard and run around for life.

The most important thing is that he is now the inspector of the inspection office, and he is definitely a fifth-rank official.

You should know that even if students who take the imperial examination want to get to the position of a fifth-rank official, it will take more than ten years at the earliest.

And Shangguan Yi realized it all at once, and it was a step to reach the sky.

Therefore, he cherishes the opportunity now.

Of course, he also knew that all this was given to him by Yang Fan.

Shangguan Yi was grateful for Yang Fan's promotion.

In order not to disappoint Yang Fan, Shangguan Yi was meticulous and even showed some mercy in his work.

This made the officials and merchants in Huating County nervous.

Many people even jointly reported Shangguan Yi's "evil deeds" to Yang Fan.

Officials complained, and businessmen were also suffering from severe demands...

This is also the reason why Yang Fan came to the inspection room today.

Looking at Yang Fan sitting opposite him, Shangguan Yi's eyes were full of gratitude.

But Shangguan Yi didn't understand what Yang Fan's purpose was today.

Because, after Yang Fan came, he didn't say a word, but instead sat on a chair and read a book.

This made Shangguan Yi, who was confused, feel a little restless, for fear that he would disappoint Yang Fan if he did not do well.

After thinking about what happened over the past period of time, I felt that there was no mistake, so I breathed a little relieved.

The room was silent, with only the rustling sound of Yang Fan flipping through books and the gurgling sound of tea in the teapot.

After a long time, Yang Fan raised his head from the book, glanced at Shangguan Yi, who was a little restless, and said, "You Shao, the sage Confucius emphasized benevolence, righteousness and morality, opposed corruption among officials, and advocated clean government. Xunzi proposed strict laws such as "the person who bribes killed, and the person who accepts bribes died." Do you think it is really acceptable?"

Shangguan Yi looked at Yang Fan in confusion and asked, "Grandmaster, is this wrong?"

Shangguan Yi, who has always been influenced by Confucianism, naturally agrees with the Confucian theory of integrity.

But he could hear the doubts about this set of thoughts from Yang Fan's tone, which made him feel a little panicked.

Yang Fan put down the book and smiled and said, "Of course the words of the saint are correct, but if you only understand and execute them according to the literal meaning, it is easy to misinterpret the meaning. After all, the law is executed by people, and Confucius also said that no one can do anything wrong with a man without a sage!"

Shangguan Yi looked up blankly: "Please make clear the Grand Governor!"

Yang Fan murmured to himself: "When dealing with people, those who are too strong are easy to break, those who are good at softness are undefeated, and both hardness and softness are used to be strong, and those who have no desires are strong. The governor believes that the same principle is the same as the way of being an official. An official is not afraid of greed, but is afraid of not doing things, and a businessman is not afraid of him making money, but is afraid of him not coming..."

Shangguan Yi obviously disagreed with Yang Fan's somewhat rebellious view, and glared at him and said, "What is this a wrong truth? Corrupt officials are the country's insect erosion, and everyone can punish them! The innocent officials benefit the people, being honest and dedicated to the public is the welfare of the people, and businessmen are only able to pursue profits. How can the prince put the cart before the horse and not distinguish right from wrong?" Shangguan Yi said angrily, his eyes wide open and pointed at him, which seemed very excited.

If it weren't for good cultivation, Shangguan Yi really wanted to step forward and knock the prince's head open to see if he was talking nonsense.

Yang Fan smiled but said nothing!

Of course he supports integrity, and if all his officials are honest officials, he will certainly be happy to see him.

But reality is cruel, and under such social background and productivity, it cannot be eliminated at all.

Of course, it is not that Yang Fan supports corruption, but a helpless move.

In Yang Fan's view, when material and social productivity have not developed to the extreme, corruption will never be wiped out.

For example, during the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Taizu implemented the method of skinning corrupt officials, and the methods were cruel enough!

But can this really eliminate the corruption?

In fact, this is not the case, but instead makes this atmosphere accumulate and heavier in the darkness.

After all, officials are human beings, and they must live.

What's more, officials still have so many servants to support. Emperor Taizu wanted to use his meager salary to make officials honest and honest. How could this be possible?

Under such great oppression, officials may not dare to blatantly corruptly, but they will always try their best to fool and find ways.

Instead, these people united and thought about how to corrupt money, which would have a greater impact on the lives and death of the people.

Yang Fan even believed that the reason why the Ming Dynasty perished was closely related to the fact that corruption had been hidden in the dark and could not be resolved.

Of course, it has a lot to do with closing customs and curbing the development of business.

However, Yang Fan cannot say such a truth.

Because the ancients could not understand it at all, this has a great relationship with knowledge.

This is also the reason why Yang Fan hit Shangguan Yi.

In Yang Fan's opinion, Shangguan Yi has integrity and principles, which is definitely a good thing and can become a good official.

But it is also possible to do bad things with good intentions.

After all, such people are too stubborn, and once they are determined, they are easy to get stubborn.

By looking at Shangguan Yi’s blatant criticism of himself, you can know Shangguan Yi’s personality.

It is no wonder that Shangguan Yi was killed by Wu Zetian's entire family in the original history.

Although Yang Fan hopes that his officials will be honest, he does not want an official to cause trouble for him all the time.

Yang Fan is not a masochist!

Now that Shangguan Yi has just entered the officialdom, if he can change his thinking slightly, he will definitely be a very useful talent.

Therefore, Yang Fan decided to guide him in a row.

Yang Fan was not angry about Shangguan Yi's doubts, but asked again: "You Shao, tell me, is it good for the people who are upright and pedantic and incompetent, or is it good for the people who are a little greedy but do their best to do everything for the people?"

"This..." Shangguan Yi was speechless and didn't know how to answer for a moment.

It is of course a good thing for an official to be upright and obedient, but if he does not do anything practical, what is the use of an official who is in a vain position?

It's really better than officials who are a little corrupt and sincerely do things for the people.

But such a paradox completely subverted Shangguan Yi's perception and made him unable to accept it for a while.

Yang Fan stretched his waist and smiled and said, "You Shao, when people are as clear as they are, there will be no disciples, and when water is as clear as they are, there will be no fish. Some things, as long as they do not touch the bottom line, what do you think?"

This sentence should come from "The Book of the Great Dai Li: Zi Zhang's Inquiry into the Official"...

It means that if the water is too clear, the fish will have nowhere to hide; if people care too much, it will be difficult for others to get along with them...

Huating County is now in a period of great development, and officials and businessmen have a few flaws, Yang Fan can tolerate them.

This is an inevitable thing in development.

Yang Fan asked Shangguan Yi to take charge of the inspection office, but he didn't want him to be blindly stubborn and no one even dared to invest in Huating County.

Shangguan Yi thought for a while and said, "Grandmaster, if this is the case, then how should we become officials?"

It is undeniable that Shangguan Yi is very smart.

Now he can understand Yang Fan’s purpose today.

It was just the impact of the two concepts that made him a little overwhelmed.

Yang Fan shrugged and said lightly: "Of course it is better to be an official, honest and honest, but how can there be perfect people in the world? As long as people have selfish desires and selfish desires, what I want to remind you is that this world is not just black and white, but is filled with too much gray. Even this gray occupies a large part. As long as the gray does not turn completely black, you only need to hit it."

"The lower official is taught!" Shangguan Yi pondered for a while and said with a wry smile.

It seems that the war has touched the interests of many people during this period.

This also made him a little doubtful. Is his chief governor also an official who only focuses on form?

Looking at Shangguan Yi's appearance, Yang Fan stood up and picked up the pen and said, "I'll give you a deck of words. You can treat it as a criterion for officials, but this is just the highest requirement!"

Since Shangguan Yi had understood what he meant, Yang Fan could stop at this time.

You can't turn such a good seedling into a black-bellied old official.

More importantly, Yang Fan knew that it would take some time for Shangguan Yi to adapt and understand.

Hearing Yang Fan's words, Shangguan Yi, who was standing beside him, looked expectant.

Shangguan Yi has been famous for Yang Fan's name for a long time, so he is certainly ecstatic to see him when he has the opportunity today.

This is a literati's respect and admiration for knowledge and culture.
To be continued...