"Li Lin's enormous corruption is a disgrace to the Great Qin!"
"Too greedy!"
"Yes, I've never seen so much money in my entire life. He actually embezzled more money in just a few months than I could accumulate in hundreds of lifetimes!"
"Damn, this guy is ruthless! He's so greedy!"
"The biggest corrupt official in the Qin Dynasty!"
The ministers, who were unaware of the situation and were just watching from the sidelines, immediately started discussing among themselves.
Of course, they don't know yet.
Everything that is happening now is within his expectations.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you are about to have me executed, but you won't even ask what my opinion is? What if I am innocent, given only your one-sided story?"
"That's true!"
The First Emperor nodded, narrowed his eyes, and gave him a deliberately deep look.
Wow, so he figured out all along that these people were putting on a show for me. He actually followed my lead and gave me a way out. I have to say, we really are on the same wavelength. Except for the fact that he's sometimes a bit slow on the uptake and his brain doesn't quite work, we cooperate pretty well most of the time.
The First Emperor was quite pleased with himself after hearing the first half of the story.
But in the second half...
His face darkened. This brat is complaining about me in his mind again. When have I ever been slow to think? This guy only knows how to whine in his head. If you're so capable, come and say it to me face to face. I'll make sure you get what's coming to you.
"Your Majesty, I did accept these bribes. Moreover, the number of bribes listed in Ying Ziying's memorial is still too small. The amount I embezzled is far more than these. There are also some extras from the Construction Department and the Imperial Treasury. I estimate that in the past few months, I have embezzled about the equivalent of about ten years' worth of tax revenue from the Great Qin!"
"What? You've embezzled that much money in just a few months?"
"ten years?"
"My God, is this for real? This greenhorn is actually so good at making money?"
"No way?"
The officials gasped in surprise. Even the censors and judges who had been hired by Li Lin to deliberately smear him had sour expressions on their faces.
"Damn it, I thought Prime Minister Li was just accusing me of embezzling so much money to embarrass himself, but I never expected him to be such a corrupt official!"
"Hey Zhang San, shut up! How can Li Xiang be just a corrupt official? He's clearly the unparalleled master of corruption, a once-in-a-millennium figure! In my estimation, even after thousands of years, we might not see another talent like Li Xiang who has amassed such a fortune in just a few months!"
"Alas, I am so envious. If I had even a tenth of Prime Minister Li's wealth, I would have retired long ago and lived a carefree life for the rest of my days."
"Old Li is right, we are all openly envious!"
......
"Li Lin, you seem to feel no shame, but rather pride in it?"
"Your Majesty, although I embezzled this money, I have never used a single penny of it. I know that this money is the hard-earned wealth of the people and belongs to all the people of the world. How could I dare to dispose of such ill-gotten gains?"
Li Lin suddenly became serious, got up from the ground, broke free from the restraint of the surrounding guards, raised his head, and faced the group of ministers.
He said solemnly, “Gentlemen, what will you choose when faced with so much ill-gotten wealth? If you do not accept it, these corrupt officials will find ways to transfer this hard-earned money to others! Therefore, in order to prevent other upright ministers from being poisoned by such sugar-coated bullets.”
"With the fearless spirit of 'If I don't go to hell, who will?' I reluctantly accepted all this money and handed it over to the national treasury. I even used my salary to regulate the complicated land divisions around Xianyang City and provide some convenience for the people's travel."
"In addition, under the overall planning of the Prime Minister during his convalescence, several batches of disaster relief supplies and a large amount of money have been invested in several areas currently suffering from severe drought, with the aim of controlling the severity of the drought and avoiding more casualties."
"Although I am greedy for money, I know that a gentleman loves money but acquires it in a proper way. Naturally, I would not covet such ill-gotten gains, lest I bring shame upon His Majesty, tarnish the court, and be despised by the people of the world!"
After he finished speaking, he cupped his hands in a respectful gesture to the crowd.
His attitude was very sincere.
The emotions were very genuine.
There wasn't a trace of affectation.
"Hahaha, I knew you weren't that kind of person, you rascal. No wonder the national treasury has been so full these days. In the first half of the year, the Yellow River breached its banks, causing the Yi River to swell and many people along the riverbanks to be displaced. The national treasury was empty, and we had no solution. Now, with this money, the dikes along the Yellow River for over a thousand miles can finally be rebuilt. If completed, more than a million people will benefit from it, and the people downstream will have sufficient water to irrigate their farmland. It is a great achievement!"
This belated praise from the First Emperor.
This made everyone in the imperial court look at Li Lin with new respect.
Just now, it seemed that Li Lin was a prisoner, hated by everyone and envied by everyone.
Nowadays.
His noble character was something these people found hard to believe.
to be honest.
There were indeed many natural and man-made disasters at the end of the Qin Dynasty.
There were varying degrees of disaster in different places. Perhaps Sima Qian deliberately wrote it this way when he wrote the book, following Dong Zhongshu's theory of the interaction between heaven and man.
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