Chapter 542: Must we kill?

After a moment's thought, everyone felt that Wen Yanbo made sense.

Li Shimin immediately said: "Then, following Lord Wen's words, how should we weigh between the two and come up with a solution everyone would be satisfied with?"

Wen Yanbo shook his head: "This old minister hasn't figured it out yet; I'm just giving a preliminary opinion for everyone to discuss."

"... Wei Zheng, you're usually quite eloquent, aren't you? You speak; if you do, I'll immediately order the Shangshi Bureau to stir-fry a plate of spinach for you to eat!"

"You should know, in this season, how scarce spinach is need not be said by me, and moreover it's stir-fried using the method given by Zi An..."

Li Shimin's words almost made the ministers' expressions break, even causing the old minister Wen Yanbo's eyes to twitch uncontrollably.

Wei Zheng loves eating spinach, and when he eats it he has no image; this is not something everyone knows, but at least in this small circle it's no secret!

As the person involved, Wei Zheng didn't care what others thought, wearing a frank expression.

Loving to eat spinach isn't something shameful.

At most he's just lacking in table manners!

It's nothing much.

"Your Majesty, in my view, it would be better to keep the news within a certain range, have it published in the Tang Dynasty Daily, and then, before many commoners, execute corrupt officials to warn others!" Wei Zheng thought for a moment, then said with clasped hands.

"Oh? What kind of control method? To what extent would we control it?" Li Shimin raised a question.

"It's like this: a while ago, Minister Chen wasn't it that he found corrupt officials in the Ministry of Revenue? This matter was already published yesterday. We can make a little fuss about it, saying that after His Majesty heard of this he flew into a rage, ordered a thorough investigation of the Six Ministries, and finally some problems were also uncovered in the Ministry of Works."

"We only need to push forward some low-ranking officials as the ostensible corrupt officials; the rest we can either kill outright in the open or deal with secretly."

"That way, the matter won't blow up, causing the people to doubt, and it will add three points to Your Majesty's holy name—how wonderful!"

"Hmm... you all look, you all look!" Li Shimin raised his hand, pointing at Wei Zheng, scanning the crowd, finally a smile appeared on his lips.

"Every time I mention giving him spinach to eat, his mind works at an incredible speed!"

Those present burst into loud laughter; the previously somewhat oppressive atmosphere in the hall dissipated entirely, becoming relaxed.

Chang Sun Wujì added a sentence: "However, there's a precondition here: that Your Majesty has never placed spinach before Duke Wei; otherwise Duke Wei would probably be unable to say anything."

As soon as those words were spoken, they again provoked laughter from the crowd, and Wei Zheng's expression turned a bit embarrassed.

It's really because Li Shimin's description was too tempting.

In this season, spinach is inherently hard to find; it's likely that Li Shimin painstakingly preserved it.

Moreover, having eaten Chen Yan's stir-fried dishes a few times while following Li Shimin, the stir-fried spinach in particular leaves him with an endless aftertaste; just hearing about it makes his saliva flow.

Can't we add some more, say a couple more lines?

"Chen Zian, your thinking works differently from ours; you come and say, how is Wei Zheng's plan?" Li Shimin's mood improved, and he asked casually, wanting to see if Chen Yan could give him another opinion.

Chen Yan realized that here he could basically speak freely, unlike at the regular court, so he had fewer reservations and said: "Duke Wei's plan is naturally excellent; I can't think of a better one for the moment, but......"

"But what?"

Li Shimin pressed further.

"It's just that we seem to have overlooked an issue." Chen Yan paused, smiled, and said: "As the Duke of Qi previously said, the Ministry of Revenue has corrupt officials, the Ministry of Works is even more severe, simply rotten to the root—what about the other four ministries?"

"We worry that the people will think this way; could it be that we ourselves don't think about it?"

"If it turns out the other four ministries are just as bad, then how would we explain it to the people under heaven? Would Your Majesty fly into a rage four times in a row?"

Li Shimin: "......"

The ministers: "......"

What a scenario of Your Majesty flying into a rage four times in a row.

You little brat, you know how to talk!

Li Shimin's smile faded, and he didn't mind this minor remark: "This... is also what I worry about; the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works are already like this, and no one can guarantee that the other four ministries and the Three Provinces have no problems at all!"

"Wei Zheng's method is feasible, but only applicable for now; we should consider the long term afterward......"

Upon hearing this, Wei Zheng became anxious.

I've given you the plan; I've fulfilled your demand.

Can we consider later matters later? First give me a plate...... no, three plates! Three plates of spinach!

"I think there's no need to insist on announcing to the world; the purpose of announcing to the world is merely to let the people see that we're doing things. But letting the people see more of it doesn't compare to letting them eat an extra bite full."

Du Ruhui spoke at this moment: "Your Majesty, from your meaning, it seems we should start another court purge; I think there's no need to make this known to everyone, just let the officials be clear about it, after all our aim is to intimidate officials, publishing the Tang Dynasty Daily for the people to see, gaining reputation is merely incidental."

"Returning to the original issue, actually fame is something we already lack none of; even without counting the Tang Dynasty Daily, can't the current grain prices already affirm Your Majesty's and our achievements?"

He pinpointed the problem with a single remark, and his words caused all the ministers to fall into deep thought.

The reasoning...... really does seem to be just that.

Under the current circumstances, this should be the best solution.

But Li Shimin remained dissatisfied, stroking his little mustache as he thought without speaking.

He didn't speak, and others dared not speak; the hall fell into a brief silence.

After a while, Li Shimin furrowed his brow, shifted his gaze to a figure in the back who had begun to yawn, and chuckled angrily: "What? Chen Zian, didn't get enough sleep this morning, you want to keep napping in my Ganlu Hall?"

"... Well, that's not necessary either."

Chen Yan gave a dry laugh.

"Since it's not needed, why aren't you speaking? Earlier you gave us a tough problem, yet you were dozing off to the side? Having summoned you here, is it just to have you pose problems for us?"

Chen Yan felt no embarrassment, speaking righteously: "Your Majesty, this can't be blamed on me; earlier you had me speak. Now I've spoken, and you're not pleased."

"What am I to do with you like this?"

"Enough, no more nonsense!" Li Shimin waved his hand: "Just tell me, do you have a method or not?"

"A method...... naturally there is one." Chen Yan first stirred everyone's appetite, then slowly said: "What you've been considering is whether to publish or not, how to kill, how to carry out the killing, why not consider......"

"Or not kill?"

"......"