Quick Wear: The Development of a Pure Cannon Fodder

Cheng Ting ignored the looks from the other officials, thought for a moment, then stood up and bowed, "Your Highness, I think we can raise funds in the capital. It's a bit offensive to say this, but I've heard that there's gold everywhere in the capital. Just a little bit from the nobles would be enough for the common people to survive for a year. If these nobles hear about the drought in various places, they will surely be kind enough to participate in the fundraising."

After Cheng Ting finished speaking, he felt the fiery gazes of the other officials in the study.

Who here is not a high-ranking official, who is not a noble person?

Even the prince at the top is a noble among nobles.

Cheng Ting's words were indeed a bit too offensive.

If they hadn't been concerned about the presence of the Crown Prince, they would have really glared at Cheng Ting fiercely.

What's going on? You're telling me it's just a small donation, making it seem like everyone deserves it. Isn't money money? And if you don't donate, you're not a good person. Where on earth do you get the nerve to step on us? And you're not just stepping on us, you're even stepping on the Crown Prince!

Shao Lian showed no emotion. He tapped the decoration on the chair handle with his fingers and asked Cheng Ting, "According to what Lord Cheng said, how much should the nobles reveal?"

Cheng Ting lowered his eyes and said, "Show as much as the people need."

A nobleman surnamed Wang, sitting to Shao Lian's right, sneered, "Ha! Lord Cheng, that's so easy to say! After all, you're just a young man who just entered the court, and you only consider superficial issues. If silver alone can solve the problem, then why hasn't the disaster relief funds allocated by Your Majesty been effective yet?"

"If it weren't for Lord Cheng's feeling that the silver we officials can produce is more than what His Majesty can provide in the treasury?"

"You little brat, full of kindness, but you don't know your limits!"

After Lord Wang spoke, the other lords also began to bully and lecture Cheng Ting.

After listening to a few words, Shao Lian raised his hand to stop him.

Useless arguments only bore him.

Cheng Ting lowered his head with a frown on his face. He just expressed his thoughts as before, but these officials started attacking him one by one as if they were pricked by needles.

Isn't money the most needed for disaster relief? Is he right?

After chatting for a few more hours without coming to any conclusion, Shao Lian dismissed everyone. However, he did not leave immediately. Instead, he sat for a while. After a while, Cheng Ting walked in again.

"Your Highness, I pay my respects to His Majesty the Crown Prince. I wonder if there is anything else that His Highness has asked me to come back for?"

Cheng Ting, who was feeling somewhat depressed, had already boarded the carriage back home. After being bullied by several officials, he had no mood to go hunting anymore, but after turning a few corners, he was brought back.

Shao Lian looked at his straight back, the interest in his eyes much less than at the beginning. "Cheng Ting, your method is good, but it's targeting the wrong direction. Being straightforward is certainly a good thing, but it's not necessarily a good idea when negotiating with officials."

Cheng Ting raised his eyes and met those dark and deep eyes, then lowered his head again, "I just said what I wanted to say."

He himself is an official, and when he said this, he really had no selfish motives. He really felt that everyone was so rich, and when the people were suffering, shouldn't everyone help them? If they didn't help the people, what kind of officials would they be?

Shao Lian was in no mood to correct his temper. Almost all officials who had just entered the court were like this.

They are all stubborn, consider themselves loyal subjects, speak their mind without thinking, offend people everywhere, but are proud of it and make many enemies. However, after a year or two, with more experience and tempered character, they will become more mellow.

He did not give Cheng Ting any more advice, but said: "I can pay you, but you can't pay them."

Even if these officials were not following him, they had done nothing wrong. Each of them was a close minister who had loyally served the court for many years. Asking them to pay hundreds of thousands or even millions of silver taels for disaster relief for no reason was not to earn reputation, but to destroy their foundation.

In this special period, with these things happening, who can guarantee that there won’t be some foolish scholars among the people who will say and write nonsense?

"Then...who is to blame?" Cheng Ting asked in confusion.

This made Shao Lian a little confused about Cheng Ting's thinking. Since you said that you wanted officials to pay the money, didn't you think about what to do if this plan failed? Only Cheng Ting, who did not consider the consequences of his actions, would do such a stupid thing as offending people when the plan failed.

After all, he is just a scholar who has just entered the court and can only talk about it on paper.

Shao Lian had a memorial on the table brought to Cheng Ting. "Your plan is sound. Even if the investors are changed, it won't be a problem. The merchants on this list are the best choices. They may be their own children or nephews who have made mistakes, or they may have bribed their superiors to profit. They are all guilty and have the blood of the people on their hands. I need you to bring the people from the Ministry of Justice to arrest them."

This is actually a job that offends people and is thankless.

If Cheng Ting brought people to confiscate property in public, the reputation would only fall on the prince who held the Ministry of Justice. The court would not openly punish those bribed superiors. They would only deal with the merchants so that they could obtain their money in secret.

Therefore, Shao Lian and the imperial court wanted to use Cheng Ting, the top scholar, as a pawn.

But Cheng Ting was not afraid at all. As long as he could kill these corrupt merchants, Cheng Ting felt that it didn't matter even if he offended the superiors they bribed.

"I will definitely not let Your Highness down!"

Shao Lian glanced at the sharp look in Cheng Ting's brows and waved his hand, "Go down."

Cheng Ting actually didn't want to leave. He wanted to ask what to do with those bribed superiors, but the prince had already driven him away, so he could only leave with the memorial.

It’s okay. It’s not too late to ask after we raid these people’s homes and come back to report.

……

Yu Ziyin learned from 404 about Cheng Tingzhichen's temperament and way of doing things, and also learned about the tasks assigned to Cheng Ting by Shao Lian. There was a complicated look between her brows, and her hands holding the reins trembled.

[Isn't this asking Cheng Ting to offend people?]

404: [Yes. Shao Lian actually really admired him, so he was interested in training him, hoping to use this incident to smooth out his edges. Afterward, he was isolated by various officials for a long time, even ignored by his superiors, and sat on the bench for a long time. However, Cheng Ting also used this opportunity to restrain his temper and become less aggressive, which can be considered a kind of growing male protagonist.]

Yu Zinyin thought about the plot of the original book and knew that Cheng Ting was taking a growth-oriented path, so the first half of his life before becoming the prime minister must have been extremely difficult. After all, since ancient times, the people who died the fastest and most miserably in the court were loyal ministers.

This made her admire Cheng Ting for being able to persevere and become the prime minister, but she was also a little curious. She wondered if Liu Ziyu would still like Cheng Ting when he saw him in such a situation?

As the saying goes, we can share happiness but not hardship. Liu Ziyu likes the high and mighty Prime Minister Cheng, not the unpopular Cheng Xiaoshang. I wonder if Liu Ziyu can persist in standing by Cheng Ting's side.