Demon Lord Gets Married

Chapter 173 - Huo Tian Alone Was Better than Thousands of Men and Horses

A major incident even occurred on a hot July day. Dozens of heinous crimes had been committed by the old Salt Transshipment Ambassador. The streets and alleys that were filled with papers pasted all over with Yunjin City were filled to the brim with people watching.

For a moment, the entire Jiangnan Road was in chaos. The officials, merchants, and nobles involved numbered in the hundreds, and any one of them could pull out a basket of mud.

The officials who were implicated all destroyed the evidence in their hands at the first moment, hoping that they could safely get through this disaster. However, they could destroy the evidence in their hands, but they couldn't do anything about it, and some of the evidence didn't mean that they could be destroyed just by destroying it.

The previous transshipment salt envoy was soon apprehended, and the current transshipment salt envoy did not receive any benefits. Although this matter wasn't caused by him, he was the one who bore the wrath of the entire Jiangnan Province.

He was a new official, and in terms of influence and ability, he was no better than a centuries-old family in Jiangnan. Within a few days, the newly appointed salt envoy was found hanged in his study, and a letter of apology was left behind.

Some of the commoners believed it, but there were also others who did not believe it. Formerly, the transit salt envoy was famously clean and honest, and his official voice was very good. Suddenly, someone said that he was wicked beyond redemption, that he was corrupt, that he had taken bribes, that he was rich and rich, and that no rational person would believe him immediately.

On the other hand, the new officer who replaced him was rumored to have once been the Imperial Censor's Left Envoys. He didn't have a good reputation and had quite a few enemies. Those who saw him all said that he was a pedantic person.

The Metropolitan Investigation Department was a place where people offended people. That person could be promoted to the position of Imperial Censor's representative, and had offended countless officials before he managed to climb the ladder. He died in the distant Jiangnan without anyone to speak up for him.

On one hand, the Procurator of Yunjin City had sent people to clean up the paper on the streets and alleys, and on the other hand, he wanted people to block the news. Only then did he write a letter to the court with earnest Advice Letter.

However, since someone had already begun it, how could they be so easily suppressed? Thus, after only a few days, this matter was like a whirlwind that swept into the capital and the Imperial Palace.

In the morning assembly, the emperor looked at the Advice Letter that were folded into a mountain and rubbed his forehead with a headache.

He had already been aware of what was happening on the Salt-revenue Management, which was why he changed his original Salt-revenue Management official. Unable to find a suitable candidate to replace him, he decided to assign the most straightforward officer to replace him for a period of time so that he could secretly investigate and then make his move.

Jiangnan was the economic lifeline of the entire Dazhou Kingdom. Every year, more than half of the tax money in the treasury came from Jiangnan, which would affect the economy. Even as the emperor, he could not act rashly without any preparation.

During this period of time, his body was not healthy at all. He was easily angered and he started coughing at night. Although the effects of the pill were remarkable, the person who gave it to him had said that it could not be cured.

However, the emperor had been secretly investigating for so long, yet he didn't even know what was wrong with him. His body was not well, and he couldn't keep up with his energy.

“Tell me, how is the matter of Yunjin City resolved?” The Emperor asked coldly, his gaze fixed on everyone below.

He didn't believe that this matter would randomly explode. There must be a mastermind behind this. As for his goal, it was to mess around in the imperial court and find an opportunity to do so.

The civil and military officials at the top looked at each other, not daring to voice their opinions easily. Although the matter in Jiangnan seemed far away, it was indeed inextricably linked to the temple.

“Are you all mute?” “When I reported it in the past, didn't I always praise that surnamed Tang as high and mighty as he can be, and how clean and honest he is?! Now, just shut your mouth, how do you want the people of the world to view us, how do you want us to govern the rivers and mountains?”

“Your Majesty, please calm your anger. This subject and others are guilty!” The officials kowtowed.

“You guys naturally won't escape your crimes, this Salt-revenue Management is a big tax collector, and every year the account book that the Ministry of Revenue sends us is very good, but now someone is telling us, how much of the salt tax has been stolen, and how many people have shared it privately, where exactly did they get the guts to deceive us like this, and how dare they deceive the people of the world!”

The Minister of Revenue trembled, crawled out on his knees, and kowtowed as he said, “Please calm your anger, Your Majesty. This humble subject's supervision is insufficient. I am willing to make up for my wrongdoings and rearrange the accounts!”

“Do you think I will still trust you?”

“Your Majesty …”

“Men, take the Minister of Revenue with you first. It's best if you don't have anything to do with this, or I will kill your entire family!”

The Emperor's cold and harsh tone made all the officials present shudder. In fact, it was not like this had never happened before, there were many greedy officials in Jiangnan and Salt-revenue Management s were the most important amongst them. Since the founding of the dynasty, they had beheaded countless corrupt officials.

He didn't expect that the emperor would be so angry this time. From the looks of it, he was planning to kill everyone involved.

Many of the officials kneeling in front of him had ashen faces, secretly regretting that they had not been greedy for small gains back then. How could it be so easy to distance themselves from their relationship now?

“Who is willing to call upon Jiang Nan and investigate this matter for me?”

Everyone looked at each other, not daring to step forward. People who were related in this matter couldn't get involved, and people who were unrelated didn't want to get involved in this mess.

Even if you manage to get promoted, you have to come back from Jiangnan alive.

It was not a rare thing for officials of the Jiangnan Road to collude with each other. Once it involved the interests of the majority of the people, they would be able to do anything.

Of course, there were some officials who wanted to ask for orders, but after thinking for a bit, they gave up on this idea. They wanted to help the emperor share his worries, but they had to know their place.

That Jiang Nan, that Yunjin City, how could it be so easily investigated?

“What is it? Scared? ” The Emperor mocked.

“This humble subject dares not!”

“Why wouldn't you dare? “In terms of rewards, you fight more quickly than anyone else. If I tell you to do something, then we'll push each other off. Are you even worthy of standing in this temple?”

These words were a bit heavy, but the officials knew that the emperor was in a bad mood and did not dare to say anything more. They could only silently cry out their grievances.

“Teng Yu…” The emperor suddenly pointed his spear at Teng Yu, who had been silent the entire time.

“Your son is here.”

“The last time at Hui State was not bad. You are a prince, and are also serving in the Ministry of Revenue, this matter will be handled by you, you must investigate this matter clearly, and don't let a single bug go!”

“…” Teng Yu never thought that he would be the one to take care of this matter. With the attitude that the Emperor had towards him, there was absolutely no reason for him to take care of such a huge matter.

He didn't suspect that the Emperor would take this opportunity to kill him, but he could not help but think of a bad idea. What was the purpose of this move of the Emperor's?

Did he want him to lose all face after he failed and destroy the reputation he had built? Or did he want to use the rich gentry of Jiangnan officials to show him some colors?

No matter what kind, Teng Yu's mistake this time would not go smoothly.

“Your son accepts the decree, but your son requests for Huo …”

“I will give you 500 guards. You will be the one to dispatch these guards to protect your safety. If you have any difficulties, I will allow you to temporarily transfer the local soldiers. Do you have any other requests?”

Teng Yu's words were interrupted by the emperor, and he naturally knew his purpose in his heart. How could it be easy to separate him from Yin Xu?

“Reporting to Royal Father, this son doesn't need five hundred soldiers. This son only asks that Royal Father allow Huo Tian to follow this son around!”

“Ridiculous! That Huo Tian is the Palace Emissary, how can he follow you out of the capital casually? Do you still have the mountains and the lands in your eyes? ” The emperor stood up and shouted angrily, “I gave you such a good chance, but I didn't give you the chance to go sightseeing. If you continue to be incompetent, I can still take away your prince's identity.”

The official inhaled a breath of cold air. He never thought that Third Prince would be cursed like a dog this time. If he stole the prince's identity, wouldn't he become a commoner? The emperor is really mad.

“This son is also doing official business, Royal Father, please calm your anger.” Teng Yu said without changing his expression.

“For business? What a great thing, doing official business for you, tell me, how is a Huo Tian even close to five hundred guards, and how strong can he be to beat five hundred guards? “

“Royal Father, a person's abilities are not determined solely by strength. Huo Tian has his merits and schemes, he alone can defeat thousands of soldiers and horses!”

“Hiss …” The officials continued to stare, the Third Prince really dared to say, no matter how good Huo Tian was, he was just a fourteen year old youth, how could he win against so many soldiers and horses? Was that a deity?

The Emperor sneered, “You really dare to say that. Men, call Huo Tian over, we would like to see how he alone can defeat an entire army!”

“If it is possible, can the Royal Father let him and his son go down into Jiangnan together?” Teng Yu immediately replied, clearly showing that he wanted the Emperor to make a promise.

“Hmph, alright, I'll do it, but if he doesn't have that kind of ability, not only will I not release him, I'll even take away his title of being the envoy in front of the palace!”

“Let Royal Father decide!” Teng Yu said confidently, but he thought in his heart: I should have taken the title, and brought the person back home.