Ming Dynasty: The poisonous imperial teacher, Zhu Yuanzhang advised me to be kind

Chapter 10: Honest officials don’t obey? It’s simple. Let the honest officials embezzle. If anyone doesn’t obey, just publish his evidence of guilt!
"Yes." Chu Nan didn't say anything more and just spoke directly.

"Your Majesty, the difficulty you are facing now is that you want to use these honest officials, but some of them rely on their reputation as honest officials and do not obey your orders."

"This problem is indeed very difficult. It has occurred in every dynasty, but it seems that no emperor has solved it well."

"Yes." Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. This was his problem.

And no emperor in history has ever solved this problem, otherwise he would have simply copied the method.

"There has never been such a solution in any dynasty, but I have a solution here." Chu Nan smiled slightly. People in later generations have come up with many creative ideas by brainstorming.

"Your Majesty, in fact, most honest officials care most about their own reputation. Then it's simple."

"Your Majesty, all you have to do is find a way to make these honest officials corrupt, and then you'll have something to hold against them. Who would dare to disobey you?"

"If anyone disobeys, we will directly publish the evidence of his guilt. This way, the good reputation they care about most will be destroyed. Do they still dare to disobey?"

"What?" After hearing Chu Nan's words, Zhu Yuanzhang, who had just frowned because the honest official was disobedient, was shocked.

Let honest officials embezzle?
You, Chu Nan, can even come up with this idea? Is this something a human can come up with?
"This..." The princes present were all stunned after hearing Chu Nan's words.

They have all read the books of sages. The sages taught that corrupt officials should be severely punished and honest officials should be given important positions.

You want an honest official to engage in corruption. What kind of idea is that? Were you educated in the books of sages?

Liu Bowen, who had been silent all this time, was also annoyed and couldn't help but speak.

"How can this be possible? If you allow honest officials to be corrupt, will there still be loyal ministers in the court?"

"Lord Liu, you are wrong." But after hearing Liu Bowen's words, Chu Nan shook his head.

"Ministers can be divided into honest officials and corrupt officials, as well as loyal officials and treacherous officials, but are honest officials necessarily loyal officials? Are corrupt officials necessarily treacherous officials?"

Chu Nan's expression turned serious.

"The honest officials in the court are indeed honest and upright, but not only do they not share your worries, but they also disobey your orders? Are they loyal officials?"

"I think their good reputations are probably not for Your Majesty, but for themselves! If that's the case, what's the point of Your Majesty keeping their good reputations?"

"It would be better to tarnish their good reputation and then let them serve Your Majesty!"

"This..." Liu Bowen fell into deep thought after hearing Chu Nan's words.

An honest official is not necessarily a loyal official, and a corrupt official is not necessarily a treacherous official. This statement seems to make sense.

Could it be that Chu Nan is right?
"Can it be like this?" After hearing this, the princes also fell into deep thought.

Although Chu Nan's method is illogical, it seems to make sense.

"Is this feasible?" Zhu Yuanzhang's face was serious at this moment, and he began to think seriously.

Because he felt that Chu Nan's method seemed to make sense.

These honest officials have a good reputation, but they are not used by him. Are they loyal ministers? Of course not. They are only loyal to their own reputation.

Since they were not loyal officials, why was Zhu Yuanzhang polite to them? Zhu Yuanzhang wanted officials who were obedient and shared his worries, not honest officials who only cared about themselves.

Since allowing these honest officials to embezzle can make them obedient, why not do it?

Moreover, if he is a truly honest official, he will not change his original intention because of corruption. Only a hypocritical honest official can change his original intention, and he is not worthy of pity. "But." But at this time, Zhu Yuanzhang mentioned another problem.

"If you want to make these honest officials corrupt, it's probably not that easy. If they can't, won't your plan fail?"

Yes, the princes and Liu Bowen fell into deep thought when they heard this.

Some honest officials truly regard money as dirt. Even if ten thousand taels of gold are placed in front of them, they will not be tempted.

"Haha, of course it won't be that simple." But Chu Nan had already considered this and sneered lightly.

"Your Majesty, if you are polite and give them money openly, they will certainly not accept it. Even if you put these honest officials in lucrative positions and hundreds of thousands of taels of silver flow through them every day, they may not be tempted."

“But the important thing about this strategy of letting honest officials embezzle is not the embezzlement, but the framing.”

"I will secretly arrange for someone to put the gold in his house today, and then arrange for someone to confiscate it tomorrow. These officials will not be able to explain themselves even if they are right. When the time comes, I will threaten them. Most of the honest officials will be scared and will not listen to your Majesty."

"Besides, who says that if we want to make an honest official embezzle, we must give the money to the honest official himself? Can't we give it to his wife, concubine, or son? If the relatives of the honest official receive the money, won't it become a stain on him? And we can't control him?"

frame!!!

"This!" After hearing Chu Nan's words, the princes and Liu Bowen present were all shocked.

They just thought that although the strategy of letting honest officials embezzle money was harmful, it was not that vicious.

You, Chu Nan, actually even had the idea of ​​framing someone else. That's really vicious!

"Chu Nan, you..." Zhu Yuanzhang was also looking at Chu Nan at this moment, not knowing what to say.

He remembered that Chu Nan said at the beginning that this plan would not hurt him, Zhu Yuanzhang, so he let Chu Nan say it.

But in the end, you, Chu Nan, let Zhu Yuanzhang, an emperor, frame his own ministers. How can this not hurt Zhu Yuanzhang?
He framed these ministers. It would have been fine if these ministers didn't know about it. If they had known about it, they would probably have cursed Zhu Yuanzhang a thousand times in their hearts.

How could there be a minister in this world who would give such advice to the emperor? It's so vicious, too vicious!

But at this moment, Chu Nan had not finished speaking.

"And your majesty, you don't have to resort to framing to get evidence of these honest officials' corruption. Letting them commit corruption is mainly about pleasing them."

"These honest officials may not like money, but if you give them antiques, calligraphy and paintings, some of them might like it. Isn't this evidence?"

"You can even try a woman."

As he spoke, Chu Nan looked at Liu Bowen standing aside.

"For example, Lord Liu Bowen has a good reputation throughout his life. He may not care about money, antiques, calligraphy and paintings."

"But if he lets a beautiful woman with fair skin, long legs, lying naked on his bed, can he still control himself? He may not be tempted once or twice, but I don't believe he won't be tempted every time!"

"What!" Liu Bowen was shocked when he heard it. What beauty? How can this be so embarrassing! What is Chu Nan talking about? I said I am already sixty years old.

"This..." The princes were all stunned when they heard this. According to Chu Nan's method, which honest official could withstand such a test?
"I..." Zhu Yuanzhang didn't know what to say at this moment. If Chu Nan implemented this idea, would anyone under his command dare to disobey him in the future? It's too cruel!

"Your Majesty." But at this moment, Chu Nan had not finished speaking.

(End of this chapter)