"Your Majesty!!"
Guo Ze suddenly broke into Cao Mao's reverie.
Cao Mao raised his head, but Guo Ze said solemnly, "In the days of Yao and Shun, it was not that there were no villains, only that there were more worthy men, so the villains were less conspicuous."
"Your Majesty is still young and grew up in the imperial palace. You do not know how the world has changed."
"But do you still remember Yuan City as it was back then?"
"Just how brutal were the officials in that little county town?"
"Do you remember the sons of the great clans galloping through the town on hunts, using the common people as their prey? Do you still remember the county commandant leading troops to intercept and murder merchants?"
"Every official took bribes. Not a single good person could be found from top to bottom, and the people had nowhere to take their grievances. Misery filled every level. If you delivered something to the Gao Family Restaurant in the morning, someone would rob them of it that evening."
"There was nowhere in the entire town for the virtuous to find a place."
"That was truly rule in an age of chaos. The Sima Family had no virtue and corrupted the morals of the realm, causing people's hearts to degenerate until there were no moral gentlemen left!"
"The moral gentlemen of the Two Han Dynasties were mocked by the people of that time. People no longer concealed their love of money or their ambitions to pursue luxurious lives. They committed evil without restraint!"
"Judging by these things alone, Your Majesty's punishment of the Sima Family was far too light!"
"Your Majesty has exercised personal rule for a long time now. You have promoted many virtuous, worthy men and reformed local official administration.