Chapter 17: The Frog Theory

  As soon as Yang Ling walked into the signing room and saw that pile of documents, he didn't feel like he had taken a breath. Although his head still hurt, he wasn't feeling so anxious in his heart. According to his reincarnation habits, he would always die again inexplicably, with the longest time not exceeding two months. Now he had been in this world for a month.

  The only difference from the past is that this is his poorest life in reincarnation, and the girl who cried with tears when he woke up was so pitiful to him. So, as a modern person coming to ancient times, in his limited life, he just wants to leave some money for the young daughter to settle down, without any ambition or dreams of getting attention from beautiful women. He can't bear it for just two months of life.

  Now there are forty taels of silver at home, which is a huge fortune for the farmers in this area. Leaving this money to Yu Niang, if one day I leave without any worries, so seeing this thick letter again, the psychological pressure is not that great.

  With a calm and composed mind, handling matters becomes much clearer. After drinking two cups of tea, he reviewed six or seven documents, setting aside those that required Lord Nian's personal attention. He picked up another one, only to find it was an old yellowed notice. Judging from its appearance, it wasn't written recently. Could someone have mistakenly submitted an old document?

  Yang Ling curiously picked up the note, only to see that it had been scribbled and revised many times. Obviously, it wasn't written in one go. However, the tiny characters were written beautifully, and he couldn't help but admire them with a few sighs of praise.

  The biggest and most urgent problem of the current political system is the interference of eunuchs in government affairs, the dereliction of duty by high-ranking officials, the excessive granting of titles and rewards, the overburdening of labor services, the endless presentation of tributes, and the failure to resettle refugees. The recent natural disasters are largely due to these problems. In the past, the system of eunuchs had clear regulations, but now some eunuchs control more than ten people, while others participate in six or seven groups, distributing themselves among the provinces, enjoying the privileges of princes, and wielding the power of great generals. They rely on their cunning and cleverness to gain favor, using their wealth to bribe officials, and escaping punishment for their crimes...

  Yang Ling exclaimed, looking at the content of the post which was actually discussing state policies. How could such a post appear in an official document of a county magistrate? Yang Ling was so absorbed in reading that someone beside him chuckled and said: "Yang Xiūcái, are you still handling official documents?"

  Yang Ling looked up and saw a white-faced, slightly mustachioed old man in his fifties standing before him. Judging from the official uniform he wore, he was merely an eighth-rank petty official, hardly worthy of being called an official at all - it was none other than Huang Qiyin, the county lieutenant who had been stuck in this county for many years.

  Yang Ling hastily stood up and bowed his hands in greeting: "So it's County Magistrate Huang, I was rude to you."

  Huang Qiyin waved his hand, sat down on a chair beside him, and smiled as he picked up the slips of paper stacked on the table to take a look. He chuckled and said: "Li Zisheng, Deng Chang'en? Oh, these are all high-ranking officials from the imperial court during the Xianzong era. It seems that this should be a draft of a memorial written by some dignitary. Where did Young Master Yang get it from?"

  Without waiting for Yang Ling's response, he pointed to the table with his hand and quickly browsed through the content, then looked up and asked: "What does Yang Xiuzai think about what is said in it?"

  Yang Ling first saw in an official document a draft of a memorial from the Xianzong period, which was nearly twenty years ago. He also saw Huang Xiancheng, the county magistrate of Huang County, who had never been seen before and did not ask for salary or inquire about cases, suddenly appear. Yang Ling had already guessed some of the reasons in his heart. Seeing that a pair of deep eyes were staring at him, he seemed to be inquiring and also somewhat urgent. That kind of urgency was like a child hoping to get praise from his teacher.

  Yang Ling had been working in the insurance industry for six or seven years and had met all sorts of people, and was most skilled at guessing others' psychology. As soon as he saw the meaning that flashed in his eyes, he felt a sudden movement in his heart, and a bold idea suddenly emerged: "First, it was the memorial written twenty years ago, and then there was Huang Xiancheng, who had not been seen for many years. He said that someone had drafted a memorial at that time, but the content of the memorial actually criticized the important officials of the court at that time. Could it be... that this memorial was written by him, and he was therefore punished by the imperial court, demoted again and again, until he fell to this difficult inn as an unimportant official?

  At the mention of this, Yang Ling secretly pondered his intentions while pretending to say: "I'm ashamed, I don't know the detailed circumstances of these high-ranking officials in the imperial court during Emperor Xianzong's reign, so I really can't comment".

  "Huang Qiyin shook his head and said, 'Alas... it's all old news now. Since there's nothing else to do today, I'm just chatting with you here. What comes out of your mouth goes into my ears, so let's not consider this gossip. Just evaluate the content of this post.'"

  Yang Ling's mind was racing with thoughts, secretly speculating: "If my guess is correct, this discontented old man must have been punished by the emperor because of this note, and has been demoted again and again. Today he came to test me on these things, perhaps wanting to see if I'm worth his help? Well, since I probably don't have many more days left to live anyway, it won't hurt to discuss it boldly. If I want him to help me, of course I'll flatter him a bit, but if I don't have my own unique insights, he'll just look down on me again."

  While estimating in his heart, he carefully read the content of the memorial again. Yang Ling said: "If so, then the student will speak boldly. If what I say is not correct, please don't laugh at me, County Magistrate Huang."

  Huang Qiyin's face smiled, but his eyes did not: "Never mind, never mind, you and I are colleagues after all. Please speak your mind freely, no need to be polite."

  Yang Ling nodded and said, "This article starts by saying that at the time, the imperial court was bloated with redundant personnel, and people were idle. It requests the imperial court to streamline the staff of various departments, which can be considered a sincere remark, and the suggestions provided are also wise moves, only..."

  Huang Qiyin first heard his eight-character comment, "institutional obesity, people floating on the surface", and couldn't help but brighten up, clapping his hands in praise: "Wonderful! Incisive! These eight characters have summed up the whole situation, Yang Gongzi is really great, what is it?"

  Yang Ling was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly realized: "I see, this dynasty doesn't have such a term yet, no wonder he found it so novel and exciting. But there's no need to get so agitated that his face turned red, is it because he finally found someone who understands him?" Yang Ling secretly smiled to himself and continued: "But this gentleman is too pedantic."

  Huang Qiyin's face flashed a hint of displeasure, and he asked discontentedly: "What makes you think so?"

  Seeing his expression, Yang Ling had a plan in mind and first praised then criticized: "This official is just and upright, doesn't care about personal gains or losses, and is eager to set things right. From the words on this memorial, it can be seen that he has a passionate heart, but thinks too simply."

  He thought about the drawbacks of the increasingly simple and numerous institutions in later generations, and slowly pondered: "From the perspective of students, although the officials of various departments of the government are becoming more and more bloated, this official hopes that with a single order from the emperor, he can rectify the discipline and simplify the institution with lightning speed, which is unrealistic.

  You think, the Emperor has issued an edict, someone must go and do it. The whole country is responding in unison, all foreign envoys are being recalled, the court will lose its ears and eyes, officials will not hesitate to drastically streamline, and many things will inevitably come to a standstill.

  He smiled wryly and pointed to the documents in front of him: "For example, as a student, I am suddenly responsible for so many aspects such as financial affairs, taxation, and litigation. I'm busy to the point of being unable to cope, not to mention that it takes a long time to get familiar with the process, and without an experienced senior to guide me, I would have to take many detours. At the very least, I would be tied up here and unable to move, so how can you guarantee that these people will be able to perform their duties faithfully?"

  Huang Qiyin's face turned very unsightly, but he silently pulled out a tobacco pipe from his sleeve and began to pack it with tobacco, appearing somewhat agitated.

  Yang Ling said, "These are not difficult, just like a newborn baby, the mother has gone through a great pain, and then it's clear. The difficulty lies in... how many officials are there nationwide? These officials are intertwined with each other, and there are countless relationships that support the operation of this vast country. Suddenly cutting off many branches will cause backlash from many people."

  This force, though invisible and intangible, is certainly terrifying to the extreme. It violates the interests of all national officials, including those who are currently in key positions and will not be affected by layoffs. They can't help but think that with more official positions, they have more room for choice, and with fewer official positions, it's not so easy to get things done. The path to becoming an official is reduced by many viable roads. How can they bear to abandon those intricate relationships?

  "This proposal is simply making an enemy of the entire country's officials, and with fewer official positions, how can scholars stand out? So the scholars will also be offended, as well as those closely related landlords behind them. It will inevitably lead to fierce opposition, even shaking the foundation of the country. Even if the Emperor adopts this proposal, he will change his mind due to the numerous difficulties and the repeated memorials of opposition from officials. This idea is for the country and the people, but it is not implemented in a proper way, and it is too hasty, which ends up harming the country and the people."

  Huang Qiyun is in the midst of it, where can Yang Ling lightly and cleverly see from newspapers and magazines that this article has summarized the governance experience of countless generations and combined with domestic and foreign advanced institutional reforms to analyze the problems.

  Thinking back to when I was young and vigorous, seeing the corruption of officials and the bloated institutions, I poured out my passion in a memorial to the Emperor, who indeed adopted it. Before long, a large number of officials were dismissed, the National Preceptor was demoted, more than 500 attendants were cut off, and the whole country was ordered to implement this uniformly.

  But in just over half a month, he was demoted and exiled from the capital. Li Zisheng and Deng Chang'en, who had been demoted, were reinstated to their original positions. He himself was ostracized everywhere and repeatedly demoted. In five years, he fell from being a prestigious imperial censor to a minor county magistrate.

  The new emperor ascended to the throne, and Li Zhi and others were held accountable. He had thought that he could see the light of day again, but unexpectedly many officials who had been struck down by Li and Deng's faction were restored to their original positions, while it seemed that he himself had already been forgotten. He had asked someone to submit several memorials to his former colleagues, but there was no response. It turned out that the crux of the matter lay here.

  He took it upon himself to serve the country and its people, but ended up in such a predicament, resenting the world and being unhappy for life. Who would have thought that he was actually exposed by a young man who had not yet reached adulthood, and it turned out that he had already offended all officials.

  As soon as he understood the crux of the matter, even on a very cold day, Huang Xian still sweated profusely. He smiled sadly and said in a sorrowful tone: "Should we just sit back and do nothing, letting things go on like this, until finally, like parasites in the country and leeches among the people, all the corrupt officials become bloated?"

  Yang Ling sighed: "Wanting to change is not impossible, it's just...not a matter of one day, the policy must be unified and continuous, cannot be abandoned because of people, can be implemented from top to bottom, from point to surface, starting from the capital city, and at first only cut off some unimportant departments and officials, the momentum should be small not big, action should be slow not urgent."

  It will take thirty to fifty years of hard work for the results to be stable and effective. By then, we must also establish a clear legal framework for government officials, so that they can avoid repeating past mistakes. Although it may take some time, this is the only feasible approach. Spending thirty to fifty years to lay the foundation for a prosperous nation for all eternity may not be the achievement of one person or one generation, but it will benefit the people of future generations.

  "Have you heard the fable of the frog, sir? You see, if you put a frog in a pot and slowly turn up the heat, it won't notice at first. The temperature rises gradually, so the frog doesn't feel the need to jump out. By the time it's too hot for comfort, it's too late. The frog is already too weak to struggle free."

  The frog will not jump out of the water because it is hot. The master uses this to describe the world, but the student thinks it is extremely vivid. When a country's major policies are implemented, pulling one hair can move the whole body, so overly drastic changes should be cautious and careful, and carried out slowly, waiting for the effects to gradually emerge, and opponents will find that at that time, the trend is unstoppable, and they will have no power to resist.

  County Magistrate Huang stood there for a while, his voice hoarse as he let out a dry laugh. He got up and bowed deeply, saying: "Hearing your words is better than reading ten years' worth of books. I, Huang, have been enlightened." After speaking, he turned around, hunched over, looking like he had suddenly aged twenty years, and slowly walked away with difficulty.

  Yang Ling hastily stood up and took two steps forward to block his path, bowing deeply: "Huang Lao, I was just talking nonsense on paper, not in the midst of it. If I were really in the situation, it would be a completely different story. Look at me, I can barely handle the paperwork for this county, let alone talk about learning from you. To be honest, I should be the one seeking guidance from Master Huang."

  At this time, he called Huang Lao without calling his official title, which was really self-proclaimed as a student. The county magistrate's face was cloudy and uncertain, staring at him for half a day, Yang Ling was very polite, with both hands clasped in fists, bowing but not getting up. Jokingly, after talking nonsense for so long, it was just to ask someone to point out his own mistakes, how could he let him leave like this?