Chapter 625: I Am Speaking the Evidence

"Marquis, this position belongs to no one but you. We offer our congratulations to you in advance, Marquis!"

"This matter has not yet been settled; there is no need to rush with the congratulations!"

Waving his hands repeatedly, Changguan Hou could not help but feel a surge of joy in his heart, yet his face wore a look of compassion for the world.

"It is not that I, Mou Qing, am greedy for power, but for these past years, the Imperial Court has been unable to make ends meet every year, and cannot even pay the officials' salaries in full, which has caused many to harbor grievances."

"The Imperial Court relies on officials to manage the common people, but if officials cannot even receive their full salaries, how can they devote themselves to their duties, how can they be loyal to their posts? The Imperial Court cannot go on like this!"

Thinking of the former Heibu Shangshu, he was also an honest man, shrewd, capable, and diligent in his duties.

But the Imperial Court only has so much tax revenue in a year, and that old fellow Chen Xing kept finding ways to reduce taxes for those mud-legged peasants; in the end, even a clever housewife cannot cook without rice.

Moreover, Chen Xing never cared about expenses when doing things. If there was a famine here, he would allocate disaster relief funds; the disaster victims were crying out for food, so not a single cent could be saved.

If the frontier was in an emergency there, he would immediately allocate money and mobilize troops; the money had to be sufficient, and the troops had to be elite. To resist foreign insults, not a half-step could be delayed.

All kinds of expenses were allocated down to the last cent, or even with a surplus; there was never any embezzlement.

Precisely because of this, the Imperial Court neither opened new sources of revenue nor cut expenses. That is why the Ministry of Revenue had no money, and the Imperial Court had no money.

If it were him, all allocations would definitely be discounted again and again. Does disaster relief need so much money? Do disaster victims need to be given high-quality grain? Just about enough is fine; isn't it enough that they can survive?

When the Imperial Court mobilizes troops and allocates grain and money, giving eighty percent is already giving you face; what else do you want? If you dare to cause trouble, believe it or not, you won't get a single cent.

As for the Imperial Court having no money and the Ministry of Revenue having no money, then find a way to levy taxes; you can always squeeze it out of those mud-legged peasants. In such a vast Imperial Court, how could there be no money?

These years, that old fellow Chen Xing has been resting and building up strength, and the common people in various places have some spare money in their hands. What are they keeping the money for? Hiding it at home is just waiting for it to get moldy.

It is better to pay taxes to help the Imperial Court. Only when the Imperial Court has money can you all live well, right?

Open sources and cut expenses; if you cannot open sources, then you can cut expenses. If you neither open sources nor cut expenses, won't there be a deficit every year?

Thinking about it this way, that former Heibu Shangshu, Master Wu, was really put in a difficult spot by Chen Xing, and it was hard for him to hold on for so many years.

"The Marquis's words are reasonable; the Imperial Court cannot go on like this!" As soon as Mou Qing's words fell, someone immediately stood up to echo him.

Mou Qing wanted to win over these people for the position of Heibu Shangshu, but how could these people not want to cling to a powerful figure?

Who doesn't know that hanging out with Changguan Marquis means having food and drink, and having things to take? In a few years, one could have a family fortune and never worry about food or drink.

Getting on board at this time is better than trying to crowd in after others have already succeeded.

"Marquis, we will submit a petition tomorrow to support you. This position of Heibu Shangshu can only be shouldered by you, Marquis!"

"Many thanks to you all. My affairs will still require much of your effort! I will drink first as a sign of respect!"

After finishing, Mou Qing drank the wine in his hand in one gulp, and then looked around and nodded with satisfaction.

"I admire Master Chen Xing's character immensely, but his way of doing things is a bit too naive. Does he really think that being incorruptible and loyal is enough to get things done?"

"Silver cannot be collected, the Ministry of Revenue is empty, money is being used everywhere, and even officials' salaries can barely be paid. Is this the Imperial Court he manages?"

"I don't want to be greedy either, but if I am not greedy, how can I make my subordinates feel at ease? How can they have motivation? What does the Imperial Court rely on? It relies on these officials below!"

"If you make people work like oxen and horses, you have to let them eat their fill. If even the officials themselves cannot eat their fill, who can you expect to work? Who can you expect to risk their lives? Those mud-legged peasants who know nothing?"

"The Marquis is absolutely right!"

"Fart! That is complete nonsense!" Shen Yu, who was outside the room, finally could not help it when he heard the shameless words inside.

Putting corruption and bribery in such a high-sounding way also refreshed his understanding. It was as if the Imperial Court would collapse if they were not greedy.

When water is too clear, there are no fish; Shen Yu understood this principle, and he did not expect every official in the world to be incorruptible.

But even if you are greedy, do not be greedy for life-saving money. Countless common people are starving to death, with white bones exposed in the wilderness; in such a situation, you are still greedy—are you even human!

"Who? Who is it?" The voice coming from outside shocked the room, and everyone was on high alert.

In this high-martial World, the people in the Imperial Court were not without the strength to truss a chicken; every major family had its own heritage.

Except for those scholars born from humble families, who didn't have one or two Martial Learning techniques hidden up their sleeves?

They were truly capable of both literature and martial arts; sometimes when they couldn't win an argument in the Imperial Court, it would really turn into a brawl. Sometimes when they fought fiercely, they could even dismantle the main hall.

So when Shen Yu's voice came over, everyone in the room immediately flipped up, their Inner Breath surging, ready to respond at any time.

It was absolutely impossible for people in Changguan Marquis's house to say the words "complete nonsense" to Changguan Marquis; it might be that his rivals had arrived.

But he had never heard that Changguan Marquis was truly hostile to anyone, nor had he heard that he had any rivals.

When they saw the figure pushing the door and entering, everyone widened their eyes, and a few even rubbed their eyes in disbelief.

Shen Yu had once stayed in the Capital for a period of time, so they naturally recognized Shen Yu.

"Shen, Shen Yu!"

When they saw Shen Yu, everyone's face turned pale, and some even started to tremble uncontrollably.

Counting them one by one, who could say they were clean? If they were clean, they wouldn't have come here to try to cling to Changguan Marquis!

But they knew exactly what kind of person Shen Yu was; he truly spared no effort in killing corrupt officials. If he were allowed to kill freely, he could cut down half of the people in the Imperial Court.

"Shen Yu!" Seeing that the person who walked in was Shen Yu, Mou Qing's face also turned livid. He had never offended Shen Yu; how could he come to his house!

"Master Shen, this is the residence of Changguan Marquis. Isn't it a bit disrespectful to me, Changguan Marquis, to enter without notice?"

"Changguan Marquis Mou Qing!" Looking up at the other party, Shen Yu then said indifferently, "The old affair of the Yan Family from more than thirty years ago, I wonder if you still remember it?"

"What Yan Family? I don't know what Master Shen is talking about?" His expression changed; Mou Qing did not know why the other party had come, but in the end, he still licked his face and greeted him with a smile.

The situation was stronger than the person; this man Shen Yu could not be provoked!

"Master Shen, you are a guest from afar; why not come and have a drink!"

"I dare not drink your wine. What I want to talk to you about is the Yan Family of Yan Ruyi, the Yan Family that was destroyed by you back then!"

"The Yan Family of Yan Ruyi?" As soon as Yan Ruyi was mentioned, Mou Qing immediately knew which matter it was. Raising his eyebrows, so many years had passed that he had almost forgotten about this matter.

Shen Yu mentioned the matter from more than thirty years ago; it was likely that Yan Ruyi told him. Since he could not take revenge himself, he wanted to borrow Shen Yu's knife to kill.

Back then, in order to survive, Yan Ruyi came to cling to him. Not only was he not sad that his whole family was killed, but in order to survive, he even begged his enemy.

Originally, he was also cautious, but later Yan Ruyi's performance was too good, and with someone mediating in between, he let him off for the time being.

He had also been on guard for a long time, handing many dirty jobs to him, and Yan Ruyi did them beautifully, so gradually he felt completely at ease with Yan Ruyi.

From then on, he had an extra loyal lackey, and he had been smug about it for a long time.

Never in a million years did I expect that after more than thirty years, this dog would actually try to bite me!

"Lord Shen, Yan Ruyi was a corrupt official; all these years he has been insatiably greedy and amassed countless wealth."

"I know he was a corrupt official, and a major one at that, which is why he is already dead!"

As he spoke, Shen Yu had already arrived in front of Mou Qing, looking at him coldly just like that.

"But the mastermind who led to his downfall is still here. Mou Qing, back then, you embezzled half of the disaster relief funds before they even left the Ministry of Revenue. You dared to take grain meant to save lives; aren't you afraid of burning your hands?"

"Lord Shen, do you have any evidence!"

After a brief moment of panic, Mou Qing composed himself, suppressed the fear in his heart, and then stared straight at Shen Yu without changing his expression.

"If you have no evidence, you cannot speak nonsense, and you cannot do anything to me. You are slandering the innocence of my Hou Mansion!"

"Innocence? You of all people have the nerve to mention the word innocence."

"Mou Qing, you have perhaps overlooked one problem: I, Shen Yu, do not need evidence to kill someone; my word is the evidence!"