"Your Majesty, last night a band of mountain bandits attacked the Luohe Post Station, assassinated the Imperial Envoy, and killed Gao Meng and the generals staying at the post station. Afterwards, the bandits even set fire to the post station! The Imperial Envoy is probably also in grave danger!"
Wow!
These words immediately caused an uproar among the people in the hall.
"To dare to assassinate the imperial envoy, they are simply audacious!"
"Yes, they've really rebelled! Where did these bandits come from, acting so arrogantly!"
"This is clearly a provocation against the imperial court; it's utterly outrageous!"
The ministers were in an uproar, utterly astonished.
Sima Lie was stunned.
Mountain bandits? What's going on?
What on earth is going on?!
Where did this fierce band of mountain bandits come from!
Sima Lie wanted to find a possibility, so he cast a glance at Ma Shangtao.
That gaze seemed to be asking, "Was this your doing?"
As a result, Ma Shangtao was even more confused than Sima Lie at this moment, and did not notice his gaze at all.
Sima Lie was furious. Such a blatant attack on the imperial post station, killing so many generals, and even setting fire to the mountain was simply outrageous.
This time, we're definitely going to make a huge mess of things!
That idiot Ma Shangtao is going to ruin his grand plan.
Thinking of this, Sima Lie's forehead was covered in cold sweat, and his gaze toward Ma Shangtao became increasingly hostile.
He kept casting questioning glances at Ma Shangtao, but Ma Shangtao seemed not to notice.
Because even he himself was stunned at that moment.
Is Zhang Tang dead?
Was he killed by bandits?
What's going on?
The question is, where did this group of fierce bandits come from?
Ma Shangtao was in a state of utter confusion and remained stunned for a long time before finally coming to his senses. At that moment, he suddenly shuddered.
So he quickly shook his head at Sima Lie to show his innocence.
In reality, he was indeed innocent. He sent out so many assassins, including the top ten assassins, but they still failed to kill Zhang Tang. What other tricks could he possibly have up his sleeve?
Most importantly, he had already mistakenly killed Tan Wu's father, Tan Qian, which was a mistake upon a mistake.
How could they have mistakenly killed Gao Meng and those generals after killing the wrong person?
After all, those people were all elite confidants of the Ministry of War, and also Ma Shangtao's own subordinates.
What good would it do me to kill these people by mistake?
Qin Yu actually took in all the changes in the expressions of everyone in the room.
Qin Yu chuckled inwardly, but outwardly pretended to be more surprised than anyone else.
He looked directly at the scout and asked, "Is everything you just said true?"
"Your Majesty, I dare not speak recklessly. Moreover, when the soldiers rushed to extinguish the fire and deal with the scene afterward, they couldn't find the Imperial Envoy's body at all, and we don't know if he's alive or dead..."
After speaking, the scout looked up at Qin Yu. After all, harming the imperial envoy was tantamount to those mountain bandits openly slapping the court in the face, which was unacceptable to most people!
However, upon hearing this, Qin Yu did not panic. Instead, he acted indifferent and said impatiently.
"Get to the point! I don't care whether Zhang Tang lives or dies. All I want to know is where the money Zhang Tang took for disaster relief went!"
Qin Yu glared at the scout and questioned, "The money I used for disaster relief was hard-earned, that's what I'm worried about. Speak quickly, if anything happens to the money, I won't let you off the hook."
The scout trembled violently and answered with a bitter, trembling voice:
"Your Majesty, all that silver has been stolen by that band of mountain bandits."
"What?"
Qin Yu felt as if the sky had fallen, his face filled with shock.
He seemed unable to believe his ears and roared, "You're saying all my money is gone?"
The scout replied helplessly, "Those bandits must have come looking for money, so all the silver was stolen by them."
"Useless, utterly useless!"
Qin Yu was furious and glared at Ma Shangtao.
"Ma Shangtao!"
Almost instantly, he was startled.
"Your subject is present."
Ma Shangtao quickly stepped forward, bowed, and replied.
Qin Yu glared at him angrily and berated him, "My money is gone! What are you doing, Vice Minister of War? Are your five thousand men all dead?"
Ma Shangtao immediately knelt down and said bitterly:
"Your Majesty, I know my crime."
Qin Yu snorted coldly, then said:
"What good is admitting guilt? Can your confession be worth millions of taels of silver from me?"
"Ma Shangtao, you must find the silver for me! Otherwise, I will not only chop off your head, but also exterminate your entire family!"
Ma Shangtao was struck dumb, and his face changed drastically.
What a joke! Where is he supposed to find that kind of money?
He still doesn't understand what kind of gang of bandits they are.
"emperor!"
Ma Shangtao panicked and wanted to say a few words in his own defense.
But Qin Yu showed him no respect whatsoever, coldly rebuking him, "What? Are you going to defy the imperial decree?"
Upon hearing this, Ma Shangtao instantly slumped, his lips twitching slightly, but ultimately he couldn't utter a single word.
He was terrified, but he also knew that nothing he said now would make a difference.
Since that's the case, we can only accept our fate.
Thinking of this, Ma Shangtao sighed.
"I... obey your order."
At this moment, the officials looked at Ma Shangtao with pity.
But what worried the entire court even more was the million taels of disaster relief silver that Qin Yu had mentioned!
That was raised by officials buying up national debt.
Most people use the money they've embezzled most of their lives to buy it.
Now that the silver has been stolen, where will the imperial court find spare money to repay the national debt?
Upon realizing this, the officials reacted in various ways, with Wang Ziru, the Minister of Rites, being the quickest to respond.
He stepped forward first, and boldly asked, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger! I have something to ask Your Majesty regarding this matter!"
"Spit it out if you have something to say!"
Qin Yu slammed his hand on the table impatiently and snorted coldly.
Upon hearing this, Wang Ziru swallowed hard and mustered his courage to ask with difficulty, "Your Majesty, how will the national debt be repaid in the future?"
Upon hearing this, everyone in the hall trembled as they realized what was happening.
Yes, it seems that the disaster relief funds and grains of the imperial court are currently missing, but the problem is that these disaster relief funds and grains were not provided by the imperial court, but by them!
Qin Yu snorted inwardly; this old fox's reaction was indeed quick.
But why should he have to pay back the money he borrowed through his own abilities?
On the surface, Qin Yu pretended to have a dark expression and stood up angrily.
"My dear Wang, I have always thought you were a pillar of the court, but it turns out your mind is filled with nothing but this filthy greed? Is your character really so despicable?"
Wang Ziru panicked immediately!
Could this tyrannical ruler be trying to renege on his promise?
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger."
"Calm down?"
Qin Yu, enraged, laughed and said, "How can I calm down now? Besides, I'd like to ask you something: now that the country is in trouble, instead of helping me, you're asking me for money?"
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