nycdaug Chapter 102 This king is short of money; I want 8% of his family fortune.
Chapter 102 This king is short of money; I want 8% of his family fortune.
The Divine Martial King's Palace.
"Your Majesty."
Qi Ye strode into the study.
"What's the matter?"
Qin Wu put down the official document in his hand and inquired.
"Your Highness, the Left Clan Minister of the Imperial Clan Court just entered the palace to meet His Majesty."
Qi Ye reported this.
Qin Wu fell silent. What was Zuo Zongzheng doing in the palace at this time?
"Flowing Wind".
Qin Wu shouted.
"Your Majesty."
Liu Feng appeared.
"Investigate why Zuo Zongzheng entered the palace."
Qin Wu gave the order.
Liu Feng accepted the order and left.
Half an hour later, Liufeng returned.
"Your Highness, the Imperial Clan Court Commander wrote a confession and committed suicide. Zuo Zongzheng took the Imperial Clan Court Commander's confession to the palace to plead for mercy from His Majesty."
Liu Feng succinctly explained what had happened.
"The Imperial Clan Commandant confessed his guilt and committed suicide. Interesting, truly interesting. That old bastard actually took his own life."
Qin Wu smiled.
This was something he didn't expect.
Given the character of the Imperial Clan Court Official, he would never have done such a thing, yet he did it anyway.
"It seems someone gave him this idea; he's willing to sacrifice his own life to save his entire lineage!"
Qin Wu quickly realized the reason why the Imperial Clan Commandant had committed suicide.
Moreover, the person who gave the Imperial Clan Order advice must know him very well.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have come up with such an idea.
"Yes, according to the message from An Yi, Zuo Zongzheng whispered something in the ear of the Imperial Clan Leader, which led the Imperial Clan Leader to write a confession and commit suicide."
Liu Feng replied.
Although they left, they left behind guards to keep watch in secret.
In order to test the loyalty of Liu Yun Wang's secret guards.
"It seems our Zuo Zongzheng is a clever man! Send someone to investigate him carefully."
Qin Wu confessed.
"Yes."
Liu Feng accepted the order and left.
"Qi Ye, you should also keep an eye on the situation in the palace. I reckon some people in the harem are starting to get restless."
Qin Wu then gave instructions to Qi Ye.
"Yes."
Qi Ye accepted the order and withdrew.
After everyone left, Qin Wu picked up the official document again and looked through it.
Most of the intelligence we've received recently is related to the Western Zhou Dynasty.
The Western Zhou Dynasty has now begun negotiations with the Left Wise King's tribe of the Northern Barbarians.
They want to end the war.
Due to the plague, the Western Zhou Dynasty is no longer in a position to continue its major wars, and it needs time to recover its national strength.
Furthermore, it took the Western Zhou Dynasty almost a year to bring the plague under control.
Of course, it's not a true cure, but rather direct isolation and incineration.
Thus, the prefectures west of the Western Zhou Dynasty are now practically deserted, with 70% of the population having perished.
It will take at least several decades to recover.
It was even more impossible to relocate people there. The people knew that plagues had occurred in those places, and even if they were poor, they would not seek death in the short term.
Who knows if they might have been infected with the plague in the past?
It will take at least two or three years before people are willing to relocate.
In other words, in the short term, the prefectures west of the Western Zhou Dynasty could not only fail to bring taxes to the Western Zhou, but the Western Zhou court also had to continuously invest in them.
That's why the Western Zhou court advocated for peace talks with the Left Wise King of the Northern Barbarians.
The Northern Barbarians were also divided, and the Northern Barbarian King, the Left Wise King, and the Right Wise King all wanted to stabilize their own regimes first.
The Left Wise King also intended to withdraw his troops.
Under a series of conditions, both sides expressed a willingness to cease hostilities.
Just as Qin Wu was reviewing intelligence on the Western Zhou Dynasty.
"Your Highness, Eunuch Yongfu has arrived."
Yu Shu's voice came from outside the study.
"Let him in."
Qin Wu put away the intelligence report and spoke calmly.
"This old servant greets Your Highness."
Grandpa Yongfu bowed respectfully.
"No need for formalities, Yongfu. What brings you here?"
Qin Wu asked the question.
Although he asked aloud, he already had some guesses in his mind. He thought that Eunuch Yongfu had come because of the matter of the Imperial Clan Order.
"Your Highness, this is the confession of the Imperial Clan Court Official. His Majesty's intention is that since the person is dead, there is no need to pursue the matter further."
After finishing speaking, Eunuch Yongfu glanced at Qin Wu cautiously.
He was genuinely terrified; every time he came to the Divine Martial King's Mansion, he felt like he was putting his head on the line.
Staying in the Prince's mansion made me feel like I could die at any moment.
"You think you can appease me with a life? Do you all think I'm easy to talk to?"
Qin Wu smiled as he looked at Eunuch Yongfu.
Don't be fooled by Qin Wu's smiling face, which makes him look like a peerless gentleman.
But the words he spoke carried a murderous intent.
It is clear that a confession and a life cannot end this matter; other costs will be incurred.
"Your Highness, please make any requests you may have. This old servant will report to His Majesty upon returning."
Grandpa Yongfu was so frightened that he didn't dare to breathe.
He was genuinely afraid of Qin Wu in this situation.
"Is that so? Well then, unlike my other brothers who have the support of their maternal clans, I am quite strapped for cash. The Imperial Clan Commander has lived for over ninety years and must have accumulated quite a bit."
"Now that the person is dead, and wealth cannot be taken with him, I will not ask for more. I will give you 80% and let this matter be over."
"Otherwise, I still want to kill someone to vent my anger."
After Qin Wu finished speaking, he picked up the teacup next to him and took a small sip.
When Yongfu heard Qin Wu say that he was short of money, he began to complain in his heart.
He really didn't know that every time the Divine Martial King confiscated someone's property, he would secretly keep one-third of the wealth.
Putting everything else aside, the Yong'an Marquis's estate alone brought the imperial court an income of one hundred million.
The Divine Martial King intercepted at least fifty million taels of silver worth of wealth.
The wealth of the Prince of Liuyun has not yet been tallied, but it is definitely many times greater than that of the Marquis of Yong'an's mansion.
It's likely that the Divine Martial King also embezzled a considerable amount, and his current wealth is probably the greatest among the nine princes.
And yet he says he's short of money.
He didn't know how to respond to Qin Wu's words.
"Your Highness, this old servant cannot make a decision on this matter. I will return to the palace to report to His Majesty."
"Your Majesty, please make the decision."
Yongfu wanted to get out of Shenwu King's sight as soon as possible.
Otherwise, who knows what unacceptable conditions and ideas the Divine Martial King might suddenly come up with.
"Go!"
Qin Wu simply said one sentence and did not make any other demands.
It's already a sign of his mercy that he didn't kill his entire family after offending him.
It's impossible to expect my family to live a good life.
He took 80%, and he believed those people wouldn't be able to keep the remaining 20%.
The Imperial Clan Court official must have offended many people over the years, and his family members have probably offended many as well, relying on his power.
Those people will definitely not let this opportunity pass, even if they dare not kill them because they are royalty.
Their future is not going to be easy; they'll likely live in humiliation and resentment.
He wants to make their lives worse than death.
After Yongfu left, he immediately reported Qin Wu's request to the Emperor of Eastern Qin.
The Emperor of Eastern Qin agreed after only a moment's thought.
After all, the mistakes made by the Imperial Clan Order did not warrant the confiscation of property and extermination of the clan.
Moreover, they are also members of the royal family. Killing too many would cause problems within the royal family.
He can't be like Qin Wu, killing whomever he wants.
He needs to consider the overall situation.