"If we send someone to follow them, what will happen to the family's fields? Besides, how could anyone voluntarily do such a thing without compensation?" the village chief continued.

Xu Changqing shut his mouth in embarrassment.

He really hadn't considered this question.

Jiang Chen listened to their conversation, lost in thought.

After finishing lunch at the village chief's house, Jiang Chen left with Xu Changqing and Jing Yue.

The next morning at court, Jiang Chen had Xu Changqing recount the events of yesterday, and then said, "Gentlemen, what are your thoughts?"

The ministers looked at each other, finding it hard to believe.

Just the right to use an ox for a day could cause such a commotion?

They found it hard to believe.

If someone else had said this, they would have likely thought it was fabricated.

But this was something Jiang Chen had witnessed firsthand, so they couldn't question it.

Minister of Public Works, Wei Zhengli, thought for a moment and stepped forward, saying, "Your Majesty, I believe this matter shows that there aren't enough public farm tools and oxen in each village. Simply increasing the number will solve the problem."

Xu Changqing immediately shook his head and said, "Lord Wei, not to mention that the Ministry of Revenue has already been cutting costs since the beginning of spring, even if there were enough silver, how many oxen would be enough for each village? And where would we find so many oxen?"

Wei Zhengli was stunned and retreated to his place in the ranks in embarrassment.

"I believe we should send someone to supervise," said Minister of Personnel, Yang Yongqi, stepping forward. "Lord Xu just said that the farce ended as soon as the village chief arrived with people."

"So, if we send someone to supervise in advance, we can prevent such things from happening."

This suggestion was immediately approved by many ministers.

Preventing problems before they happen could indeed solve these issues at the root.

Xu Changqing smiled when he heard this and repeated the village chief's words, saying, "I thought the same as you, gentlemen, but unfortunately, I was rendered speechless by the village chief."

The ministers' expressions were not very good.

They felt that the best solution had actually been rejected by a village chief.

But what the village chief said was right!

The court was filled with discussion, but no other minister stepped forward to offer a suggestion.

After waiting for a while, Jiang Chen raised his hand to quiet the ministers' discussion and looked at the Minister of Rites, Yang Yongqi.

"Lord Yang, how many *xiucai* (successful candidates in the imperial examinations at the county level) does our Great Wei have now?" Jiang Chen asked.

"*Xiucai*?"

Not only Yang Yongqi, who was being asked, but all the ministers were stunned.

How did the topic suddenly jump to *xiucai*?

His Majesty's thinking was truly extraordinary.

Coming back to his senses, Yang Yongqi thought for a moment and said, "According to registered statistics, our Great Wei currently has approximately twelve thousand *xiucai*."

"Twelve thousand."

Jiang Chen nodded, then looked at Xu Changqing, "Lord Xu, how many villages does our Great Wei have?"

The ministers were even more confused.

From trivial matters in the countryside to the number of *xiucai*, and now to the number of villages.

What exactly did His Majesty want to know?

The ministers felt they couldn't keep up with Jiang Chen's train of thought.

Even Xu Changqing didn't understand Jiang Chen's intention.

He recalled for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, our Great Wei has approximately fifty thousand villages."

Jiang Chen frowned, "So many?"

The ministers were even more surprised.

For emperors of past dynasties, the population was naturally the more, the better.

Why did His Majesty think there were too many?

"How many *tongsheng* (students enrolled in a government school) are there?" Jiang Chen asked Yang Yongqi again.

The ministers were completely dizzy, so they stopped trying to guess Jiang Chen's purpose and just waited for Jiang Chen to reveal the final answer.

Yang Yongqi said, "There are approximately fifty thousand *tongsheng*."

"Enough!"

Jiang Chen nodded heavily, "What do you think about having the *tongsheng* and *xiucai* carry out the supervision?"

"Ah?"

In the court, there were sounds of uncertainty and surprise.

Was His Majesty serious?

Yang Yongqi was the first to step forward and say, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid this is not appropriate."

"What is inappropriate?" Jiang Chen asked with a frown.

Yang Yongqi said, "The *tongsheng* and *xiucai* are the foundation of the scholars of our Great Wei. Their task is to study diligently and participate in the imperial examinations when they have learned enough, eventually becoming officials of our Great Wei."

"If their time is wasted on these matters, I'm afraid it will be detrimental to our Great Wei."

Jiang Chen had naturally thought of what Yang Yongqi said.

He smiled faintly and said, "Lord Yang, let me ask you, out of these twelve thousand *xiucai*, how many will eventually become *juren* (recommended men)?"

Yang Yongqi calculated in his mind and couldn't help but be shocked. His voice trembled as he said, "I'm afraid there will only be four hundred or so."

This result startled the ministers as well.

Out of more than twelve thousand *xiucai*, only four hundred or so would eventually become *juren*.

That was too few.

They thought there would be many more.

After all, the people they interacted with every day were all *juren*.

Jiang Chen nodded with a smile and said, "Yes, I'm afraid it's only a fraction of these twelve thousand or so people."

"Not to mention what will happen to the twelve thousand who fail the imperial examinations, I think that even if they supervise for a month during the busy farming season, it won't have much of an impact on them, right?"

"Moreover, they can also study while supervising."

Jiang Chen waved his hand, "It's decided! Feng Jin, draft an edict to inform the world!"

"Yes!"

Seeing that Jiang Chen had already made a decision, the ministers did not dare to object, but their expressions were not relaxed.

They knew very well that this matter would be met with fierce opposition!

As the edict spread from the capital to the surrounding areas, the *xiucai* and *tongsheng* everywhere were agitated.

"What is His Majesty doing?"

"First, he stripped us of the benefits of tax exemption, and now he won't let us study in peace and wants us to do what kind of supervision!"

"Since the founding of our Great Wei, it has always been scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants. When did farmers ever ride on the heads of us scholars?"

"We will never do such a thing!"

"Oppose! Protest!"

The *xiucai* and *tongsheng* everywhere did not agree with Jiang Chen's order.

In those wealthy places, the *xiucai* and *tongsheng* even gathered together, wrote joint letters of opposition, and asked local officials to send them to the capital.

In just half a month, dozens of joint letters of opposition were piled up on the desk in the Qin Zheng Palace.

Looking at these joint letters of opposition, Jiang Chen smiled coldly.

"Feng Jin, record the names of all the people who signed these joint letters."

Feng Jin was startled, "Your Majesty, this… you want to…"

He already knew something about Jiang Chen's style of doing things.

He was the kind of person who meant what he said.

These people had joined forces to oppose His Majesty, so could they have a good ending?

They would inevitably be met with His Majesty's thunderous means!

Was he going to kill all these people?

Although Feng Jin was only the chief eunuch, he still had some knowledge.

He knew very well how much power scholars had.

On a larger scale, if these people were dissatisfied with an emperor, then later generations would inevitably have all kinds of scandals, apocryphal histories, and unofficial biographies about this emperor.

On a smaller scale, these scholars were the future pillars of the court.

If these people were punished, then the court would inevitably be turbulent.

For Great Wei, it would be a fatal impact!