The officials who were brought in were all pale-faced, but they all looked up at Chen Zhennan.

Sitting on the dragon throne, Chen Zhennan realized upon seeing the scene that these people must have secretly colluded to oppose the imperial edict.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Chen Zhennan noticed that Wei Yunpeng was at the very front of the arrested officials, and he couldn't help but laugh.

“Minister Wei, I didn’t punish you that day, but I didn’t expect you to dare to disobey the imperial edict. You’ve got some nerve.”

Upon hearing this, Wei Yunpeng frowned slightly, a hint of displeasure flashing across his face. He retorted, "Your Majesty, I caught a cold yesterday and am truly weak today. Does Your Majesty intend to punish me for such a trivial matter?"

As Wei Yunpeng spoke, the officials behind him who were being held captive echoed his words.

“Lord Wei is right. Your Majesty, we have been busy calculating our family fortune these days, unable to sleep at night, and our health is extremely weak.”

"Your Majesty, my residence is in complete chaos. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me."

Upon hearing this, Chen Zhennan nodded repeatedly and couldn't help but praise, "Good, that's tough enough. I, Chen Zhennan, like people like you."

As he spoke, Chen Zhennan slowly stood up and walked heavily to Wei Yunpeng and the others.

"Minister Wei, there's a saying: 'When the ruler commands a subject to die, the subject has no choice but to die.' You must know this saying, right?"

Wei Yunpeng was taken aback, and nodded somewhat in surprise: "I know, but we did not intend to disobey the imperial edict. Please forgive us, Your Majesty."

"Um."

Chen Zhennan nodded slightly, then drew the long knife from Yan Shiyu's waist and held it to Wei Yunpeng's neck.

The icy touch of the longsword made Wei Yunpeng shiver instantly, but his face still showed no sign of submission.

"Understand you? Fine, but who will understand me? I've already investigated your assets, Wei Yunpeng. You own eight properties in the capital, two gambling dens, and three hundred hectares of land in other places. All of that adds up to more than five million taels of silver. The amount of money you have is about the same as the current amount of cash in the national treasury."

Upon hearing this, Wei Yunpeng's pupils dilated instantly. How did Chen Zhennan know all this? Account books from other places had never appeared in the capital before.

Seeing his stunned expression, Chen Zhennan couldn't help but laugh: "Aren't you curious how I knew? Although I've only just ascended the throne, I have people all over the Great Wu. Do you think my subordinates are just freeloaders?"

Before Wei Yunpeng could even refute what he said, Chen Zhennan slashed his neck with a knife.

The attack came too suddenly; no one expected Chen Zhennan to actually kill him.

Blood gushed from Wei Yunpeng's throat, staining Chen Zhennan's dragon robe red, making him look like an executioner on the execution ground.

As Wei Yunpeng collapsed and convulsed, Chen Zhennan pointed to the dragon desk, and Yan Shiyu hurriedly went over and took more than a dozen envelopes.

Chen Zhennan took the envelopes, didn't even look at them, and threw them next to Wei Yunpeng, where they were slowly soaked with his blood.

At this, the officials behind Wei Yunpeng, who were bound hand and foot, all knelt down and begged for mercy.

Chen Zhennan returned the long sword to Yan Shiyu, then turned around and sat on the steps, looking quite lazy.

“I remember saying that day that when I ascended the throne, I would first kill corrupt officials! In just six days, you turned over a total of 5.58 million taels of silver to the national treasury. That’s quite a lot, but the family assets you’ve hidden away in these six days amount to more than 37 million taels!”

As Chen Zhennan roared in anger, the entire Lizheng Hall fell into a deathly silence, and the sky outside the window began to darken with clouds.

The tense and oppressive atmosphere made everyone lower their heads, and no one dared to look Chen Zhennan in the eye.

Looking around, Chen Zhennan was surprised to find that no one had stepped forward to confess.

"Since no one has confessed, fine, I'll start calling roll now, Wang He!"

As Chen Zhennan shouted, an official in his forties stepped out from the crowd and hurriedly knelt down in Chen Zhennan's direction.

"Lord Wang is very honest and upright. His residence in the capital has been in disrepair for many years and is dilapidated. It seems that he has not been involved in any corruption or bribery over the years, is that right?"

Upon hearing this, Wang He quickly looked up, his face full of sincerity, and gave a heavy "hmm".

"Your Majesty, I truly have not accepted a single coin. My elderly mother is frail and critically ill, and we do not even have the money to buy her medicine."

Wang He's words were incredibly moving, filled with genuine emotion, and even Chen Zhennan sighed deeply upon hearing them.

"Excellent! With an official like you, how can the country not prosper? Shiyu, immediately send someone to invite Lord Wang's mother to the palace."

Just as Yan Shiyu was about to give the order, Chen Zhennan suddenly added, "By the way, demolish Lord Wang's residence. How can such an honest official live in such a dilapidated house? Find one of the eight residences of that guy, yes, Vice Minister Wei, for Lord Wang."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Yan Shiyu turned and walked out of the main hall to order the demolition of Wang He's house. Inside the Lizheng Hall, Wang He himself was dumbfounded.

Chen Zhennan slowly got up, walked back to the dragon throne and sat down, reaching out to pat the pile of envelopes on the dragon desk.

"Minister Liu of the Ministry of Revenue, Minister Zhao, Minister Jin of the Ministry of Rites, Minister Sun, Minister Wu, Minister of Works..."

As Chen Zhennan spoke, he threw the envelopes off the desk, and the officials whose names were called stood up and knelt down.

It took Chen Zhennan five minutes just to read out these names, but there were still hundreds of envelopes left on Long Shu's desk.

At this moment, more than half of the officials in the Lizheng Hall had already knelt down, while the remaining officials looked at each other, fearing that they would be next.

Chen Zhennan picked up his teacup, took a sip of tea, and then leaned back lazily on the dragon throne.

"My lords, this is all evidence of your asset transfer. I gave you a chance, but since you're so shameless, don't blame me for being cold-blooded and ruthless."

Upon hearing this, the officials who were kneeling on the ground began to kowtow and beg for mercy, as if they were pounding garlic.

"Your Majesty, please have mercy! Your humble servant knows his mistake and will immediately go back to settle his family's assets and hand over all the gold and silver obtained through embezzlement and bribery to the national treasury!"

The cries for mercy rose and fell, and Chen Zhennan couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

"Are you gentlemen truly sincere in your repentance?" Chen Zhennan asked with a hint of amusement.

"Your Majesty, we sincerely repent and beg for your mercy!"

"Have mercy?" Chen Zhennan clicked his tongue and shook his head slightly. "Want to take a pill to undo your mistakes? I'd need to have one first! Now you know you were wrong, where were you before?"

As he spoke, Chen Zhennan's gaze suddenly turned fierce.

"Shiyu! Take these bastards out and execute them! Then send people to ransack their homes!"

Upon hearing this, Yan Shiyu waved his hand, and suddenly hundreds of team members rushed in from outside the hall, dragging the officials who were desperately begging for mercy out of the hall.