After their minds were read, the entire court trembled with fear.

Chapter 98 Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review: What is this living Yama doing here?

[This old emperor is having a headache over the system of classifying people as free or unfree; if it's gone, then everything is gone, hahaha.]

The old emperor's expression was different from that of the other court officials.

Although what Shen Zhiyi said seemed a bit exaggerated, it wasn't entirely without possibility.

"I think, what if this system of classifying people as free or unfree only existed in a small segment of the population?"

The entire court of officials said: "Then many things we should be worried about will be gone."

The worst thing about many things is exceeding a certain limit, which can lead to a series of even bigger problems.

But small-scale events can't really cause any real trouble.

But this system of classifying people as free or unfree, which has existed for thousands of years, is not so easy to solve.

So after saying that, the old emperor said nothing more.

He waved, and the rest of the people left in an orderly fashion.

As for the Imperial Secretary, he was also dragged out and flogged according to the laws of Daye.

Since none of the servants died, this guy was only beaten with a few dozen strokes and didn't have to spend a year in jail.

Shen Zhiyi, in high spirits, immediately switched the surveillance footage to the location of the Imperial Secretary.

As soon as she was thrown back, a scream pierced her ears.

Wow, that's quite a shout!

Wait a minute, the person hitting him with the stick wasn't even using their full strength. This Imperial Secretary even secretly put a soft cushion under his buttocks to cushion the blow.

Shen Zhiyi was furious.

The old emperor gave Chen Decai a meaningful look.

Our roundworms make another dazzling appearance.

When Shen Zhiyi looked up again...

[They changed the person who did the beating, and they even took the cushion off the secretary's buttocks. Right, right, that scream is more like it.]

"Yanchen, it seemed like you had something to say just now."

The newly appointed Minister of Personnel said, "Your Majesty, I believe that the system of classifying people as free or unfree should not be completely abolished."

"It's natural."

Completely abolishing it would offend a number of powerful groups.

"However, in the common people, such a relationship has emerged. Take the textile machines that His Majesty recently plans to promote as an example. A wealthy merchant can buy a batch of textile machines and then pay some people to come and work. In this way, the cotton quilts, cotton clothes and other items needed by the people can be produced."

"Cough cough cough."

The old emperor thought Shen Zhiyi was coughing in their minds, but he never expected that this time Shen Zhiyi couldn't help but cough it up herself.

"What? Does Master Shen have some brilliant idea?"

Shen Zhiyi shook her head frantically when she saw the gaze directed at her by the newly appointed Minister of Personnel.

[What do I have? What you're saying is just the customer providing the funding and the operator providing the labor, right? I never imagined that the seeds of socialism would sprout in this world!]

Indeed, commerce was quite developed in the previous dynasty.

Huh, what ideology was it again?

The old emperor was completely bewildered.

[What this newly appointed Minister of Personnel is trying to say is that an employment relationship should replace the vast majority of the slave system. In this way, "servants" would receive money while working and could use that money for market consumption, thereby driving economic development throughout society.]

[This guy, even though he's now in the Ministry of Personnel, all he thinks about is making money.]

The newly appointed Minister of Personnel looked at the old emperor and nodded slightly.

That was exactly what he meant.

The old emperor pondered for a moment, then put his hands in his sleeves.

"It's a good idea, but not suitable. Let's leave it as it is for now. As for those servants, we can improve the laws in the future and pay more attention to their needs."

The newly appointed Minister of Personnel had long anticipated this outcome, but he still couldn't help feeling a slight pang of regret.

It seems that many ways to make money are no longer suitable to be revealed in the future.

Although the old emperor was single-mindedly focused on making money and caring for the people, in the end, he was still after the imperial power he held.

To serve the people simply means to clearly understand the principle that "the ruler is the boat, and the people are the water; water can carry the boat, but it can also capsize it."

Because he himself was once "water," and now he has become "boat."

What the old emperor always wanted was stability for his subjects.

Having understood this, the newly appointed Minister of Personnel began to focus on handling the affairs of the Ministry of Personnel.

[Hmm, the servants are living a pretty miserable life these days. The old emperor only needs to give them a little something extra according to the law, and they won't develop a strong rebellious mentality.]

"It's getting late, you should all go back too."

The old emperor looks rather dejected.

Shen Zhiyi picked up her pen.

On the 30th day of the month, the newly appointed Minister of Personnel, having failed to persuade the emperor with his remonstrances, left in disappointment. The emperor watched his retreating figure, lost in thought for a long time.

Zhang Sheren: Shen Lang, you're suited to writing unofficial histories! Oh no, I mean, you're suited to writing miscellaneous books!

The old emperor finally snapped after hearing Shen Zhiyi's nonsensical daily records.

"Get out, all of you, get out!"

The emperor, seeing the rest of the people in the hall, was greatly annoyed and said, "Get out."

Zhang Sheren gave Shen Zhiyi a thumbs-up in admiration. Even after being kicked out, she was still writing the daily records. She was truly a unique kind of dedication.

Shen Zhiyi closed the booklet with a refreshed expression and looked at Zhang Sheren beside her.

"Is tomorrow my day off?"

"Of course, Shen Lang, please rest more, after all, you can't go home for the New Year."

[Very well, I can't laugh anymore. Damn it, Zhang Sheren, you just wait!]

Feeling depressed, Shen Zhiyi took a freezing shower after returning home and collapsed onto the bed.

The thought of sleeping in tomorrow made her unable to fall asleep, so she simply laid a rug on the floor.

Do yoga.

After doing it for a short while, he got tired and happily put the blanket away.

【Huh? What's this?】

Shen Zhiyi went back and found that someone had poked a hole in the window paper. Her eyes lit up with excitement.

【I know that, I know that's how it's always portrayed in TV dramas.】

She excitedly reached out her hand, making a gesture she had wanted to do for a long time.

He took his finger and stuck it directly into the pipe.

A muffled groan came from the shadow outside the door, followed by a fall to the ground.

"Wow, it actually managed to push the sleeping gas back."

"Shen Lang, are you alright?"

That voice belongs to Aunt Cheng.

Shen Zhiyi hurriedly started looking for her outer garment to put on, then pushed open the door and said, "It's nothing, what was that just now?"

Aunt Cheng carried the unconscious man in black to Shen Zhiyi.

"He seems to be a petty thief."

[This guy doesn't seem like a petty thief; he looks like a human trafficker!]

Upon hearing this, Aunt Cheng said, "Shen Lang, let's report this to the authorities."

[Holy crap, this human trafficker wasn't knocked out with sleeping powder, but rather by Aunt Cheng knocking her unconscious?]

Shen Zhiyi looked at Aunt Cheng in horror, and Aunt Cheng felt a chill run down her spine.

[That's true. Those who do hard labor every day and beat people up in the harem are probably much stronger than the average person.]

Aunt Cheng felt like she had come back to life and reminded everyone again to take the human trafficker to the authorities.

So the two argued until the middle of the night, and the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review couldn't sleep.

"It's not like someone died, why are you in such a hurry? Did they come to the wrong place? Tell her to report it to the local county magistrate... uh?"

"Oh my, I didn't expect it to be Shen Lang."

The Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review made a complete 180-degree change in attitude.

What's this living Yama doing here?!