Chapter 332: The Concubine Does Not Harm the Country, She Only Wants to Harm the Imperial Master (Thirty-Six)
Minister Yin glared at him, retracted his empty hand, and snorted, "Our population in Daning is less than 200 million. With all the food coming in from Wu Country, plus the food we already have, how could our people possibly starve?"
Yu Huo let out an "Ah~" and interrupted him: "Don't worry about the common people... no matter how much food comes in, the common people still can't eat enough. The ones who eat and gain weight are always you nobles!"
After saying this, he seemed to remember something and said, "By the way, Lord Yin, I heard that yesterday was your son's wedding. I forgot to say congratulations. Lord Yin, please don't blame me."
Shangshu Yin's son did get married yesterday, and the palace also sent an invitation to the Imperial Preceptor's Mansion, but the other party did not come yesterday and no gifts were delivered. This clearly means that the Imperial Preceptor does not want to have a close relationship with their family.
I'm afraid it's not a good intention to mention this now...
Minister Yin looked at him warily, putting on a false smile, "Of course not. Your Excellency the Imperial Master is often forgetful. Not coming to the mansion for dinner and forgetting to bring a gift are trivial matters. How dare I blame you?"
Hearing this, all the officials in the hall looked over curiously, with condemning eyes, as if saying that Yu Huo was a little too stingy.
Unfortunately, Yu Huo has always been very thick-skinned and doesn't feel ashamed at all. He still stands with his head held high and chest puffed out at the head of all officials, his eyes half closed, looking over with contempt.
"Lord Yin must have misunderstood. It's not that I'm forgetful, but my family is poor and I simply can't afford to buy a gift worthy of the Shangshu Mansion.
After all, Lord Yin is from a wealthy family and spends money lavishly. Even the fruit on the table is a melon worth a fortune from overseas, and he only takes the sweetest piece in the middle and throws away the rest.
Yu Huo gestured with his hand, his face full of envy. "It's a full plate, filled with the sweetest bites of twenty winter melons. One winter melon is worth at least three taels of silver, twenty of them is sixty taels, which, converted into food... is enough to feed the entire village for a year. With Lord Yin's status and connections, he must have thirty or fifty tables for his wedding banquet. After all, he's a wealthy family. We can't compare, we can't compare."
Minister Yin's face flushed red at what he said, not knowing whether it was out of shame or anger. He shouted angrily, "What do you mean, Master Imperial Master? The money in my family comes from honest sources, not from corruption."
"How did that come about?" Yu Huo asked.
Minister Yin said confidently, "All this was earned by my wife and the children of my clan through business!"
Yu Huo nodded as if suddenly realizing something, and said softly, "What does Lord Yin mean by business? It means you see who's doing well, force them into a corner, then buy the recipe for five or ten taels, and run the business yourself, right? With a rough calculation, it's practically a zero-cost business. Madam, you truly are a business genius."
"You...!" Minister Yin was so angry that his breathing became unstable, and his eyes were bloodshot as if he wanted to swallow him in one bite.
Looking at the finger pointed at him, Yu Huo took a step away, slightly avoided it, and chuckled: "What do you mean by 'you'? Remember to straighten your tongue before you speak. If you lose your breath and die young, will your life be counted as yours or mine?"
Oh, by the way, my family is poor and I don’t have the money to pay.”
Seeing that Shangshu Yin was about to roll his eyes in anger, several of his subordinates hurriedly stepped forward to support him and deliberately steered the conversation towards taxation: "My Lords, aren't we discussing the issue of taxation? Why are you bringing up this? Please don't damage the harmony."
Yu Huo had no good face for these corrupt officials who only knew how to flatter. He snorted coldly and flicked his sleeves: "What is there to say? I have only one thing to say: you cannot levy taxes indiscriminately!"
If taxes are not levied, what will be left of the national treasury that has been squandered by Yue Wu?
With this calculation, these Beijing officials actually do not live as well as those officials who have been sent to other places.
Seeing this, these people immediately became anxious and said hurriedly, "Master State Master, this is absolutely not allowed. If we don't collect taxes, what will happen to the Cloudtop Pavilion?"
Although the young man in front was weak and thin, the expression on his face was full of inhumanity. He stood in the empty hall in a white robe, his figure was slender and straight, as if he had restrained all the sharpness in the world and had no intention of retreating.
Even his tone was casual, yet it seemed to contain countless dangerous spikes: "What do you do?"
This look was enough to infuriate people to death. They hurriedly looked at Minister Yin, who had already recovered his breath.
The other party lived up to expectations and immediately stood up to threaten: "Aren't you afraid that I will tell His Majesty?"
Yu Huo snorted, "Go ahead and see if His Majesty sides with a fat old man like you or with me, the Imperial Master he personally appointed."
Minister Yin, seeing his fearless attitude, laughed in anger. "I don't know who your Majesty sides with between us, but your Majesty will definitely side with Concubine Jiang. This Cloudtop Pavilion was built under the supervision of Concubine Jiang. Aren't you afraid that you will be thrown into a snake den and bitten by thousands of snakes like the previous person?"
Yu Huo patted his chest: "How could that be? I'm very afraid of death~"
"Why are you still stopping us?" several petty officials shouted angrily.
Yu Huo's expression subsided, and he replied in a cold voice, "We can't levy taxes arbitrarily. Construction of the Cloudtop Pavilion has been halted. If Your Majesty blames me, I will bear the responsibility!"
Seeing that he wasn't threatened, Minister Yin remained silent for a few seconds, then leaned back to retreat. "Very well, Master Imperial Master, you have a kind heart. You can choose not to build the Cloudtop Pavilion, you won't tax the people, and you won't be afraid even if the treasury is empty. But, Master... without silver, how can we solve the flood in Huainan?"
At the beginning of this spring, the rain in the south was unusually heavy, causing the already weak embankments to be washed away by the river water, and the Huainan area was instantly reduced to a hell on earth.
Yu Huo was stunned when he heard this. He had not received any news about this disaster.
In silence, he looked around and discovered from the micro-expressions of these people that nearly half of the people in the court knew about this.
If he had not just pressed Minister Yin so aggressively, this man would not have brought the disaster to light in front of all the civil and military officials.
So what exactly are these people planning by colluding with each other?
Could it be that the construction of the Cloud Top Pavilion is more important than the flood in Huainan?
As if sensing the unspeakable anger in Yu Huo's chest, the system, which had never interfered with the progress of the task, couldn't help but pop up and speak softly.
"Host, if you hadn't pressed me repeatedly today, the flood in Huainan would have been put on hold. When the disaster developed into a riot, the army would have marched to the affected area and, under the guise of suppressing the mob, killed all the rebels."
Yu Huo heard this and slowly glanced at those insiders who dared not look him in the eye. He suddenly sneered.
It's terrible!
The Da Ning Dynasty is really rotten!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
