Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

Shen Zheng picked up a book at random, without even reading the title, and looked at the officials with unfriendly expressions almost provocatively.

"These books are all good books." She pulled up the corners of her lips and smiled. "At this banquet today, I am the lowest-ranking official, so from now on, I will call myself a humble official."

The text is humble, but the tone is arrogant.

"Since I started my career as an imperial examiner, I have often seen and heard the phrase 'Great Harmony for the World'. You all are the pillars of our Great Zhou, so I'm sure you have mentioned the phrase 'Great Harmony' a lot, right?"

It was another sarcastic question, but still no one answered.

Shen Zheng pulled the corner of his mouth and asked again: "This humble official would like to ask you gentlemen for some advice. What is... universal peace? Is it a public world?"

"Master Shen!"

As soon as the word "public world" came out, Imperial Censor Zhang Zhongxing shouted angrily, "Sir Shen! Be careful with your words!"

No wonder Zhang Zhongxing was so angry.

You know, what is a "public world"?

The opposite of "family rule" is "public rule".

"Family empire" represents hereditary imperial power, while "public empire" represents "selecting the virtuous and capable" and also represents "the world does not belong to one person."

Therefore, "public world" is a real "contempt for imperial power".

Among the royal family members who were "despised" present, except for the Emperor, Empress, Queen Mother and Princess Jiarou who looked normal, the rest of them had some anger on their faces.

"Go on." The emperor gestured after a moment of silence.

Shen Zheng nodded and continued, "This lord is so angry, so I guess the 'Datong' that you all are talking about is not a public world, right?"

No one answered and the scene was eerily quiet.

But the Gentile messengers became interested.

Isn’t there an old saying in the Great Zhou Dynasty?

——Don’t air your dirty laundry in public.

And today, Lord Shen actually made the "national disgrace" public, and the key point is that their emperor actually agreed to it.

When they return home, today's incident will become a big and interesting story.

On this side, Shen Zheng unfolded the book in his hand and flipped through it casually while saying, "So since I entered the court as an official, I have been wondering, what exactly is Datong?"

"Is it true that people don't pick up things on the road?" She made a cold joke: "But I happen to be the picker of the Ministry of Works."

Only one person laughed out loud.

Shen Zheng looked in the direction of the voice and saw Princess Jiarou.

She looked away and asked again, "Are you talking about faith and reconciliation?"

No one responded to her again.

Then she could only talk to herself.

"Do men have their share and women have their share?"

"Then I can no longer be an official appointed by the court, and I can only find someone to marry."

"What exactly is this world of great harmony, my Lords?"

As Shen Zheng took back the last word of the question, many officials gritted their teeth, just wanting to end this farce quickly.

Just when someone couldn't help but want to speak out, Shen Zheng suddenly let out an "Oh".

She slapped her head and said, "I understand now. I understand what true world harmony is!"

She looked a little strange, even "crazy", and many officials silently took a step back.

General Lin was silent for a moment, then stepped forward and asked her, "Master Shen, what do you think is the true world peace?"

Ji Benchang and Yue Zhenchuan also stood up, looking curious.

Soon after, Princess Jiarou also stood up. Even the Emperor, Empress and Queen Mother nodded at her encouragingly, motioning her to continue.

In just a few breaths, everyone present was divided into several small camps.

The emperor took a quick look and took note of it.

Shen Zheng lowered her eyes and looked at the reflective ground.

"The Datong that I understand is actually very simple."

"It is a pity to see goods thrown away on the ground, but it is not necessary to keep them for oneself."

"Do we have to hide positive resources? If you have it, I have it, and everyone has it, isn't that a form of unity? If only you have it, or only we have it and they don't, what kind of unity is that?"

After these words were spoken, the hall was silent for a moment, and the next moment, it was noisy.

All the officials stared at Shen Zheng with different expressions.

But at this moment, they all understood.

Shen Zheng was telling them that countless court officials were promoting "Great Harmony", but their actions were extremely selfish.

They are no more willing to share their books than to share their possessions.

"Is this Datong?" Shen Zheng's eyes swept across everyone's faces.

She raised the book in her hand vigorously, and said bitterly: "I know that there are many injustices in this world, but I still want to ask on behalf of the people, can we be a little fairer? We just have books to read together and words to write together, not money to spend together. My Lords, why, why do you have to be so resistant!"

Her words were like a hurricane, blowing past everyone's ears.

Some people were confused, some were lost in thought, and some were still resisting.

Suddenly, a burst of laughter reached everyone's ears.

It's the emperor.

The emperor smiled happily.

"Yes." The emperor bent down and took out a book from the box. "In fact, I want to know too. Most of you, or your fathers, present here today, have passed through layers of selection to become officials. So you know the hardships and difficulties of the imperial examinations."

In one sentence, many officials were brought back to the time when they were "working hard with a needle hanging their heads on the beam".

That time made them sigh, but they didn't want to experience it again.

The emperor's voice was as solemn as his gaze: "So after you gained power, the first thing you did was to stand on the top of the mountain and relive your pain, and throw stones at climbers? As long as you throw them down, you can stay on the top of the mountain forever and compete for power, right!"

The last sentence was filled with anger.

Everyone in the hall knelt down in unison.

In the end, there were only a few people still standing, among them was Shen Zheng, who was wearing an official robe and standing straight.

"Your Majesty, please calm down!" All the officials said in unison, "We have absolutely no intention of throwing stones at anyone!"

The emperor closed his eyes, as if he had a headache.

Shen Zheng was silent for a moment, then asked, "Your Majesty, can I say a few words?"

The emperor nodded directly.

The emperor did not allow the officials to stand up, and the officials did not dare to stand up either. They could only kneel and listen to Shen Zheng's speech.

Shen Zheng did not face them directly, but slightly turned sideways and said: "My Lords, everyone has a desire to compete. The reason why a country can progress is because of competition. The struggle for power and profit among officials, common people, and businessmen directly promoted the reform."

Many people didn't understand what she meant.

"What I want to say is that there is nothing wrong with being competitive. Only with competition can there be progress, and this competition should be healthy."

"We shouldn't stand on the top of the mountain and hit people, because we are the best among the crowd, and hitting people is a loss of face."

Gradually, many officials listened to her words.

"Why should we be afraid of them coming up? We are not inferior to them, and we are not afraid of competition."

Many people began to nod in agreement.

No one wants to admit that they are not good enough.

As she spoke, Shen Zheng suddenly straightened her expression.

"So what we have to do is wait for the climbers to come up, and then play games and wrestle together on the top of the mountain. My Lords, there are mountains beyond mountains, and the mountaintop under our feet is much bigger than you can imagine. And I am honored to be a minister of the Great Zhou and to be called your beloved minister by Your Majesty. But I am not afraid of anyone snatching the title of 'Beloved Minister' away from me! If I am capable, the other party cannot snatch it away! If I am not capable, then it should belong to someone else! So no matter who this 'Beloved Minister' is, as long as it is beneficial to the Great Zhou, I will love him or her!"