Chapter 243

【Liang Ji knew he was guilty of heinous crimes and could not escape death, so he and his wife, Sun Shou, both committed suicide in the mansion.】

【Emperor Huan of Han immediately issued a decree to execute the entire Liang and Sun clans, regardless of age.】

【The more than three hundred party members who were serving as officials in the court were also rounded up, either killed or exiled.】

【The Liang family, the premier consort-kin family of the Eastern Han that had been prominent for nearly half a century, was thus wiped out.】

The scene is bloody: the gates of the Liang residence are smashed open, soldiers swarm in, killing everyone they see.

The corpses of Liang Ji and Sun Shou are hung in the main hall of the Liang residence.

Their clansmen and party members are taken to the execution ground and beheaded in rows, with the city of Luoyang flowing with blood.

The Liang residence, which used to be bustling with visitors, turns into a living hell.

【However, what Liang Ji left behind was not just blood debts, but a huge sum of money that shocked the world.】

【Emperor Huan issued a decree to confiscate Liang Ji's property and publicly auction his assets.】

【The proceeds from the auction totaled more than three billion coins!】

The scene on the Heavenly Screen changes.

The storehouses of the Liang residence are opened one by one, and the sight inside leaves even the experienced confiscating officials dumbfounded.

Copper coins are piled like mountains; the ropes used to string the coins have rotted, and the coins are scattered all over the ground, with almost nowhere to step.

Gold, silver, jewelry, antiques, jade, silk, and land deeds are countless.

The court organized a large-scale auction that lasted for several months, selling off Liang Ji's fields, shops, residences, and treasures one by one.

【What is the concept of these three billion coins?】

【It is equivalent to more than half of the Eastern Han court's annual tax revenue at that time!】

【The national treasury suddenly became unprecedentedly full.】

【Emperor Huan of Han used this huge sum of money to do a very "smart" thing:】

【He issued an edict to reduce the taxes of the people across the country by half for that year!】

【For a time, the people of the world were grateful to Emperor Huan, shouting "Long live," and actually hailed this originally mediocre Emperor as a "Sage and Wise Monarch."】

【And Liang Ji, with the three billion coins he had embezzled, "subsidized" the court after his death, buying the hearts of the people for once, which became the greatest irony.】

In the scene, the court's notices are posted in every commandery and county:

"By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Confiscated the property of the traitor Liang Ji, obtaining three billion coins. We sympathize with the hardships of the people and hereby reduce the taxes of the people of the world by half this year. Respect this!"

The people gather in front of the notices, first in disbelief, then erupting into earth-shaking cheers; many weep with joy, kneeling and bowing toward Luoyang.

Emperor Huan of Han in the Imperial Palace, hearing the praises coming from all directions, shows a complex smile.

【Total corruption assessment: More than three billion Wuzhu coins!】

【This is a shocking corruption with clear historical records and specific amounts!】

【Its purchasing power, converted to silver, would be as huge as hundreds of millions of taels!】

【His corruption lies not only in the amount, but also in the fact that his power had reached the point of "holding the Emperor to command the vassals," and his corruption was built on the foundation of killing emperors, disrupting government, and harming the country.】

【His family property could actually rival half a year's tax revenue of the whole country, showing how much national treasury and people's wealth he had turned into private property!】

【Reason for ranking: The pinnacle of consort-kin power, the benchmark for corruption amounts.】

【Killing emperors, installing monarchs, killing ministers, dominating the court—he committed every evil.】

【Embezzling three billion, wealth rivaling a nation, his family property auction could actually rival half the annual revenue of the whole country—this can be called an eternal wonder.】

【His existence was the most fatal tumor on the body of the Eastern Han dynasty. Ranking third on the list of corrupt officials is well-deserved!】

Viewers of all worlds, especially the Emperors of the Han dynasty and later generations, felt their scalps tingle and their backs go cold upon seeing the words "three billion coins" and "rivaling half a year's tax revenue of the whole country"!

Han Dynasty.

The wine bowl in Liu Bang's hand fell to the table with a "clatter," and the wine spilled all over him, but he was completely unaware, just opening his mouth wide, his eyes staring like copper bells.

"Three... three billion coins? Rivaling half a year's tax revenue of the whole country?"

Liu Bang's voice changed pitch, and he grabbed Xiao He's arm next to him.

"Old Xiao! Quick! Pinch Me! Am I dreaming?"

"My Great Han will actually have such a huge corrupt official in the future?"

"Damn it, this is more than all the treasuries of the six states that Xiang Yu seized back then combined, right?!"

Xiao He was also horrified, his fingers trembling slightly:

"Your Majesty, what the Heavenly Screen shows is shocking."

"The corruption of this villain is no longer that of a moth, but... but a giant beast that swallows the country! Consort-kin power has actually reached this point! Actually reached this point!"

As Prime Minister, he knew very well what national tax revenue meant; it was the bloodline that maintained the operation of the entire empire!

Liang Ji alone had drained half the blood!

Ying Zheng stood up abruptly.

"Consort-kin? General-in-Chief? What a great 'Overbearing General'!"

"Killing emperors? Installing monarchs? Treating public property as private property, and actually being able to gather half the country's taxes?!"

"If such a traitor were in My Great Qin, I would definitely have him torn apart by chariots in the busy streets of Xianyang and expose his corpse for a hundred days! I would have his clansmen, regardless of closeness, all buried alive!"

Tang Dynasty, Zhenguan era.

Li Shimin gasped, unable to speak for a long time.

He considered himself to have witnessed the extravagance and chaos at the end of the Sui dynasty, but he had never heard of someone like Liang Ji, whose corruption amount could be directly linked to national annual revenue and could even be used to reduce taxes across the country!

"Three billion... rivaling half a year's annual revenue..."

Li Shimin muttered, then slammed his fist onto the imperial desk.

"Bastard! National thief! If this villain does not die, where is the justice of Heaven?!"

"The disaster of consort-kin has actually reached this point! My Great Tang must never allow consort-kin to grow this powerful!"

"Guanyinbi (Empress Zhangsun), did you hear that? If future descendants dare to indulge consort-kin, it is self-destruction!"

Empress Zhangsun quickly said: "Your Majesty, rest assured, this concubine and my brother (Zhangsun Wuji) will certainly reflect on ourselves at all times and will never dare to overstep by even half a step."

Wei Zheng said painfully: "First there was Wang Mang (consort-kin usurping the Han), and later there was Liang Ji."

"The heavy power of consort-kin is truly a great disaster for the country. Your Majesty taking history as a mirror is the best thing."

Song Dynasty.

Zhao Kuangyin looked at the Heavenly Screen, his expression extremely ugly.

He himself was a military general by origin and had seized the world of the Chai family through a mutiny, so he was already suspicious of military generals and powerful officials.

Seeing the behavior of this "General-in-Chief" Liang Ji touched the most sensitive nerve in his heart.

"Three billion... can rival half the taxes of the whole country..."

Zhao Kuangyin's voice was low, carrying a chilling coldness.

"This is not a subject, but a great thief of the country! It seems my 'releasing military power with a cup of wine' is far from enough!"

"Zhao Pu, record this for Me: From Me downwards, the Emperors of Zhao Song must never allow military generals or consort-kin to hold sole control over military and political power! Even more, they must not be given the opportunity to accumulate such huge wealth, otherwise, Liang Ji's warning is not far off!"

Zhao Pu bowed: "This subject will remember! I will ensure this instruction is carved into the Imperial Ancestral Temple to warn future generations!"

Ming Dynasty, Hongwu era.

The Forbidden City in Nanjing was dead silent.

Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the dragon throne, motionless, as if he had turned into a statue.

Only in those slightly narrowed eyes did a terrifying light flicker, like a volcano about to erupt.

Three billion coins... rivaling half a year's tax revenue of the whole country... consort-kin... General-in-Chief... killing emperors... installing monarchs...

These words were like red-hot branding irons, fiercely burning his heart.

He came from the very bottom, and his hatred for corrupt officials was deep in his marrow.

And for powerful officials, consort-kin, and military generals who threatened imperial power, he had an instinctive, almost paranoid vigilance and murderous intent.

Liang Ji almost gathered all the traits he hated most in one person!

"Heh... hehe..."

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly let out a low, hoarse, chilling laugh.

He slowly raised his head, scanning the civil and military officials below who were trembling in fear, especially those meritorious military generals and several meritorious officials who were consort-kin.

"Did you see it? Did you all see it?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's voice was very soft, but it scraped across everyone's heart like ice shards.

"This is a powerful official! This is a consort-kin! This is the good end of being a General-in-Chief!"

"Three billion coins! Does our Great Ming's national treasury have three billion coins now?"

"Hmm? Hu Weiyong? Lan Yu? Li Shanchang? You tell Me, does it?"

The three named were scared out of their wits, falling to their knees with a thud, kowtowing:

"Your Majesty, calm your anger! This subject would never dare! This subject is loyal to Your Majesty, Heaven and Earth can testify!"

"Loyal?"

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly raised his voice, almost roaring.

"When Liang Ji first started, wasn't he loyal to his father, his sister, and Emperor Shun?"

"Power! Money! This thing can turn people into ghosts! It can make them disown their own fathers, and it can make them want the Emperor to die!"

He stood up abruptly, walked down the imperial steps, came before the officials, and almost face-to-face, growled at them:

"I will say this today! In My Hongwu era, in the days when My Zhu family sits on the world, whoever dares to learn from Liang Ji, to be some overbearing general, to embezzle military pay, to forcibly occupy civilian fields, to sell offices and titles, or even dare to be the slightest bit disrespectful to My descendants..."

"You don't need to wait for the Heavenly Screen's punishment, you don't need to wait for future Emperors to act, I! Zhu Yuanzhang! Will be the first to skin you alive! And execute your ten clans!"

"Take every single coin you embezzled, not one less, and use it to repair the city walls! Provide disaster relief! Do you hear me?!"

"This subject hears you! Long live! Long live! Long live!"

All the civil and military officials were scared out of their wits, kowtowing like pounding garlic, shouting hoarsely.

They knew that His Majesty was not threatening them; he was truly capable of doing it.

And with this Heavenly Screen appearing, His Majesty's suspicion and control over meritorious officials would likely reach an unprecedentedly terrifying level.