Chapter 139 Heaven's Wrath and Human Resentment

After a while, the officials came with a team that was nowhere to be seen.

All the gold, silver and jewelry were pulled by carts, and each cart had two large wooden boxes.

Xiao Jingzhao wanted to let the people see what kind of people the officials were in the past, so he asked the officials to open the wooden boxes so that the people could feast their eyes.

The team walked towards the palace in a mighty manner.

In the sun, the silver in the wooden boxes sparkled like snowflakes.

There were more than a hundred boxes of golden gold, and countless pearls, agates and jades.

Each wooden box was marked with the source of the confiscation.

A scholar was filled with righteous indignation, and he read out the labels on the wooden box, "He Jinzhong, the Minister of Works, Feng Tao, the Junior Secretary of the Imperial Household Department, Shen Ao, the Minister of Works..."

"Who nominated these officials? They formed a clique for personal gain, and there must be even bigger corrupt officials behind them."

"Yes, a fifth-rank official has embezzled so much, wouldn't the first and second ranks have embezzled even more?"

"That's right, what about the families of the imperial concubines in the past? Should the new emperor also investigate them?"

The people's angry curses soon drowned out the voices of the scholars reading out the names.

Seeing that the officials did not stop the people from cursing, everyone said something, and they just missed shouting out the name of Prime Minister Wei.

Some people were illiterate, but they could also distinguish the size of the official positions.

Someone cursed angrily, "It's really ridiculous. No wonder they say that a clean prefect can get 100,000 silver coins in three years. A junior official of the Imperial Household Department can embezzle so much gold and silver. The King of Yannan should have returned to the capital to replace the tyrant."

"It is still Emperor Renzong who has a far-sighted vision. The Xiao family is the true dragon emperor chosen by heaven."

"The corrupt officials who were caught will be exiled and their homes will be confiscated. The new emperor is also merciful and did not chop off their heads."

The new emperor cleaned up corrupt officials with thunder and rectified the court, which made people happy and the people applauded.

During the morning court, Xiao Jingzhao issued a military salary fundraising. When the officials learned that the confiscated stolen silver had filled the treasury, they came to their senses.

It turned out that the fundraising was fake, and it was true that they were asked to hand over the silver themselves.

The emperor also asked the Ministry of Revenue to be responsible for collecting the money.

The crowd in front of the palace gate dispersed, and soon, officials walked out of the palace in twos and threes.

"Sir Wang, how much silver do you think is appropriate for us to pay?" A middle-aged official hesitated and asked the older official in front of him.

"The emperor didn't say a specific amount, so this is not easy to handle." The older official turned around and spread his hands helplessly.

"As for military pay, the gold and silver just collected in the treasury is enough. The emperor is trying to pressure us in various ways. If it doesn't work, let's see how much the cabinet ministers pay. We, who are of low rank, should do what we can."

In the imperial study, Xiao Jingzhao read a letter twice.

"Well, not bad."

He looked up and shouted outside, "Come here."

Xiang Song and Xiang Yang walked in quickly, "What does the emperor want?"

Xiao Jingzhao slapped the letter on the desk, "Pass it on and close the net."

Xiang Yang was overjoyed and said happily, "Is Mr. Lin going to the capital?"

"He will arrive tomorrow."

In the evening, more than ten people gathered in the hall of the Prime Minister's Mansion.

"Brother, what should we do? The shopkeepers of the grain shop and the restaurant have all been arrested and taken to the government office. The officials may be on their way to the old house now."

The third branch of the Wei family also participated in it. He also saw the battle in front of the palace gate today. He looked at Prime Minister Wei with some fear.

"Why are you panicking? If the enemy comes, we will stop him. Now all the rice in the capital is in our hands. If the emperor is merciless, you will never tell him the location of the warehouse. Let's see what he can do to quell the people's resentment." Prime Minister Wei glanced at the clansmen.

The grain shop and warehouse of the Wei family are separate. Even the shopkeepers don't know where the warehouse is.

Prime Minister Wei, who is immersed in officialdom, knows that it is against the law to raise the price of rice.

It is clearly written in the Dongling law that a transaction that is twice the market price and reaches 500 dou of rice will be a crime.

In the past few days, the amount of rice stored in each shop is lower than the amount stipulated in the law.

Prime Minister Wei is fearless.

"What the eldest brother said makes sense, but the kid surnamed Xiao doesn't follow the rules. Who knows what he will do."

"Yes, at this critical moment, we'd better not provoke him."

Some clan members began to regret that they shouldn't have tried to raise the price of rice at this juncture.

A white-haired old man from the Wei family sat on the left side of the upper seat. He looked at the second branch of the Wei family, "It's better to let Du from the second family go back to her parents' home to find out about this matter. The person was arrested by the government office. Lord Du has a relationship with the people in the government office. It's more appropriate to let the Du family come forward on this matter."

The people from the second branch stood up, "Fourth uncle, you think too simply. Now it's different. Du Zhong may not listen to us now."

Prime Minister Wei frowned slightly and nodded, "Fourth uncle is right. Du is Du Zhong's biological sister after all. Second brother will go back and send his sister-in-law back to her parents' home."

The elders and the eldest brother had spoken, and the people from the second branch had to agree.

Everyone left one after another after getting reassured.

…

In Jiang Mansion, Qiu Ju helped Jiang Shuyue take a bath and then walked out of the courtyard with a pair of shoes.

The cold moonlight fell on the branches, and a gust of night wind blew, occasionally a few leaves fell from the tree.

Gao Mu and Cang Yun patrolled and went back to their rooms.

The lady said that the capital is safe now, so they should rest after patrolling.

Today's work went smoothly outside the city, and Gao Mu prepared to rest after washing up.

Hearing the familiar footsteps, Gao Mu quickly grabbed the clothes at the head of the bed and put them on.

"Brother Gao, are you asleep?"

"No, Miss Qiuju is here, but what do you want me to do?" Gao Mu said as he opened the door.

Outside the door, Qiuju held the shoes she made by hand in her hands and lowered her head shyly.

"No, no instructions, it's cold, try the shoes I made to see if they fit your feet?" Qiuju said as she stuffed the shoes into Gao Mu's arms.

"Miss Qiuju's shoes will definitely fit your feet." Gao Mu held the shoes in his arms, his heart warm, grinning happily.

"If you try and they don't fit, I'll change them."

Qiuju left a word and ran away.

"Slow down, don't sprain your ankle."

The warm light was covering Gao Mu from above, and he was careless. He didn't even see Qiuju's blushing cheeks.

When everyone ran away, Gao Mu came back to his senses. A single man and a single woman meeting at night would always make people gossip, and Miss Qiuju's affection for him was clear to all.

He secretly vowed that he would treat Qiuju well in the future, just like the young lady said, not taking a concubine, and being devoted to Qiuju.

Thinking that the young lady had set their marriage for the New Year, Gao Mu suddenly remembered something, turned around, closed the door, took out the silver and counted it.

Over the years, he had saved more than 300 taels. If an ordinary family married a daughter-in-law, it would be decent.

The young lady said that he didn't need to arrange it, and he didn't know what betrothal gifts to buy. Tomorrow, all the silver would be given to Qiuju, and she would buy what she liked.

Gao Mu put the silver bag under the pillow and turned off the light to sleep.

At the corner door, a petite figure flashed out of the Jiang Mansion.